Pity and Promise
by Bleedinginside47
Summary: The gang notices Rachel's change, but they might not find it to be as negative as they first thought. Only over time will they realize this is more than an act. FABERRITTANA FRIENDSHIP.
1. Chapter 1

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**Summary:** The gang notices Rachel's change, but they might not find it to be as negative as they first thought. Only over time will they realize this is more than an act. She refuses to let them help. Now Quinn, Santana, and Brittany start taking matters into their own hands.

**A/N:** This is an idea I wanted to play around with. I like jumping between stories and trying different ideas. Please review. c:

* * *

For once, all eyes were on the man in the front of the room as he wrote quickly on the whiteboard. Most of the students looked bored and tired, though they still managed to pay attention.

When the teacher had finished, he spun around to face them. "Heart." He said, pointing to the bolded letters he had written. Most of them stared blankly back and even then it wasn't a surprise to Will.

"Now, I am sure most of you understand that heart and passion plays a big part in each song. If there's no emotion, there's no performance."

The glee kids still hadn't said a word, so he continued. "So for this week's assignment, you have to find a song that not only shows heart, but brings out your emotions too."

The first person to speak up was Santana. "Mr. Schue, we know you're just trying to help us perform better, but the fact is that this is super cheesy and predictable."

"I agree." Mercedes said, with Kurt giving a nod and a half-smile next to her. Puck and Quinn looked like they agreed as well. The rest of the glee club was either still distracted or silently nodding.

"Why do you say that?" Will asked. He tried to make his voice even, because with every assignment he gave there were disagreements and, sometimes, trips to Mr. Figgins' office.

Santana spoke again. "Besides everyone in here being completely boring and predictable, it's annoying to hear the same thing over and over. Especially if Berry is given the chance to be more annoying than she already is." Finn sent her a glare though Rachel barely responded.

"That may be, Santana, but songs relating to the assignment will also prepare us for Nationals."

"Still, Mr. Schue, you pretty much know what everyones' going to sing." Quinn agreed.

"I'd bet you twenty that Berry is going to pick some crappy love song to sing to Finn." Santana loudly whispered to Britanny, who giggled a little.

"Then try something different." Will became impatient. "To mix things up, maybe we can try artists we haven't done, or go with songs that wouldn't be expected."

"Whatever." Santana rolled her eyes, only to pick up her bag after the bell rang.

The glee kids started to leave, with Rachel telling Finn that she'd be out after she got her things together. With a quick kiss on her cheek, Finn left Rachel alone to organize her things with Will getting the sheet music together.

Even though they had been alone before, Will felt uneasy with the unusual silence that remained. He was used to Rachel constantly talking, and although she didn't look ill, something seemed... off.

"Rachel, are you okay?" His voice was quiet, but he was able to get her attention away from sorting her papers.

"I'm fine, Mr. Schue." He was surprised that her voice cracked.

"What's wrong with your voice?" Was his response. It sounded that maybe she strained it, which wasn't uncommon-he remembered her losing her voice last year and it didn't last long. But that along with how things seemed off was not enough to comfort him.

"I lost it during the weekend. It just started to come back so I've avoided using it." Even if the excuse seemed logical, he couldn't help but stare at the dark look in her eyes or the blank expression she wore.

He wanted to ask her more, but he wasn't going to push unless something bad was brought to his attention. Of course Rachel might seem depressed at the loss of her voice. She was a mess last time, complaining and yelling about how her voice was everything. Most of the glee club disliked her attitude just for that reason, and it got to Will sometimes, but her silence made him worry. For now, maybe it would be good not to jump to conclusions.

"Oh, okay. Well you better rest up then. We need to start rehearsing and I want you up and singing in the next few days." His smile was genuine and hid his concerns, and he was glad that she gave him a small smile before she left the room.

Something was definately off, he realized. He replayed the last minute once more. One thing anyone could notice is that she wasn't wearing her normal attire, she was simply wearing black skinny jeans, a white blouse and a black cover up jacket. Formal wear, something that he was not used to seeing.

He got up from his chair and poked his head out the door. Finn was waiting by some lockers for Rachel, and all he did was watch the teen walk over to her boyfriend. She said a few words to Finn, gave him a quick kiss, and then walked to her class alone. Finn seemed as numb as Will, because he watch his girlfriend walk down the hall with an utterly confused look on his face.

Will caught Finn's eye, and they both looked at each other without anything being said. They both knew something. Maybe nothing was _wrong_, but it was clear something was different. A few days might give them a clue to what was going on with Rachel Berry.


	2. Chapter 2

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**A/N:** Thank you to everyone who reviews, favs, and follows. c: This isn't really my best chapter, but I'm trying to improve so we'll see how it goes.

* * *

"Has anyone seen Rachel?"

The concern was shared between both Will and Finn, and he seemed to know that Mr. Schue was asking him. They had both seen her behavior the day before, and now the rest of the glee club looked like they were curious as well. They all shook their heads.

Santana did speak up though. "I saw Berry this morning. But she looked a little... different." She smirked.

"How so?" Will asked.

"Well, I saw the hobbit walking in this morning and she looked... I don't know... depressed?" Santana shrugged. "I had nothing better to do so I asked what was wrong and she said nothing. Voice kinda cracked though."

"I noticed that yesterday." Finn chimed in.

"Quiet, Finnocence, I wasn't finished." Finn put his hands up in submission and allowed Santana to continue.

"Anyway. I just figured you did something to piss her off again." Finn scowled. "She didn't say anything about you though. I saw her walking to class and then she got slushied by Karofsky. Red is not her color." Kurt and Mercedes rolled their eyes and Finn grunted.

"Then I kinda lost interest when she went to clean up in the bathroom, but when she came out she was dressed like a gothic prude.

"Like what?" Will looked confused.

Santana looked up and pointed to the door. "Like that."

Everyone looked up and couldn't help it when their jaws dropped. Instead of the reindeer sweaters they were used to seeing, they saw a white tank top following by a black jacket. She wore a black skirt to go with it, and her hair was pulled up. Another thing to notice was the darker eyeliner she wore that made her brown eyes seem brighter.

"Uh..." Finn was at a loss for words.

"You look hot, Berry." Puck laughed before his best friend punched him in the shoulder.

"Thanks." There was the same scratchiness as yesterday. Will was certain that was all that was wrong, but now the clothes?

"Oh my god." Mercedes said, while Kurt only stared without saying a word.

"Trying out a new look, Rachel?" Quinn asked sarcastically.

"Glad you like it." She shot back with an unusual fierceness. Quinn pulled back in surprise and whispered something quietly to Santana while Rachel took a seat next to Finn.

"Okay..." Will said, still finding it hard to take his eyes off of Rachel. She had come in last, too, which was not like her. Maybe he should ask her again if something was wrong. But not now. They had to continue the assignment.

"We'll be continuing the assignment today. Quinn, why don't you go first?" Will suggested.

"Actually Mr. Schue, I think Rachel should go first." The look Quinn gave Rachel could be mistaken for anger, but instead it was highly curious and suspicious.

"Okay." Rachel agreed, standing up to go to the front.

"Rachel, that might not be a good idea... I remember you telling me that you lost your voice." The look the other kids gave him made him realize that she must have not told them.

"Whatever." Rachel sat down, looking a little disappointed, but she got over it when she leaned her head on Finn's shoulder. Even her attitude seemed different.

Simply agreeing to not go up and sing made the glee club even more confused. Usually Rachel was the one begging for the spotlight, and now that she had the chance to go first, she denied it.

"Alright Quinn, you're up." Quinn looked at Rachel again, this time confused, and then walked up.

The music started and the blonde kept her eyes on Rachel before she started the song.

_You've got a face for a smile you know_

_A shame you waste it when you're breaking me slowly_

_But I've got a world of chances for you_

_I've got a world of chances for you,_

_I've got a world of chances,_

_Chances that you're burning through_

Will smiled at Quinn's song choice and the others seemed to be enjoying it too.

_Oh, I'm going my own way_

_My faith has lost its strength again_

_Oh, it's been too hard to say_

_We've fallen off the edge again_

_We're at an end_

_We're at an end_

The music played while Quinn paused to take in a breath.

_Maybe you'll call me someday_

_Hear the operator said the number's no good_

_And that she had a world of chances for you,_

_She had a world of chances for you,_

_She had a world of chances,_

_Chances you were burning through_

_Chances you were burning through_

_Chances you were burning through_

_You've got a face for a smile you know_

Quinn smiled when the song finally ended and everyone lightly clapped. Brittany gave her an enthusiastic and Will congratulated her performance. Mike and Tina proceeded with their song together, and Mercedes and Kurt went soon after.

When the bell finally rang, everyone looked around confused at the fact that Rachel had all but disappeared. They had seen her walk out, but everything seemed to be normal. It wasn't a normal Rachel Berry storm-out, but it was unusual that she didn't say anything.

Even after she left the room, the whereabouts of Rachel Berry were still unknown. Spotting Finn, she knew there was something he knew that the rest of the gle club didn't. She was going to get to the bottom of this, and maybe have some fun in the process.


	3. Chapter 3

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**A/N:** Thank you to everyone who reviews, favs, and follows. c:

* * *

Rachel stared at her reflection in the mirror. A black hat, black and white striped shirt, a black skirt and chain, and a silent attitude to go with. Tuesday and it already felt like she had endured a whole week. She looked physically exhausted, and some might even say emotionally. There was too much coming at her at once. It wasn't the best situation to be put in. She wouldn't talk to her dads, because she was just the kind of person to deal with her own problems. But one thing she couldn't get over was the fact that she couldn't go to her mother either. Shelby Corcoran wanted nothing to do with her.

She brought her face closer to the mirror once more as she used the eyeliner to darken her eyes and make them stand out. That was when she looked at herself. Even now, she could see the person staring back at her. It was Quinn. How the blonde had been at the beginning of the year; hopeless, lost, and eager to prove a point that she was trying to be someone she wasn't. Rachel was upset as the rest of the glee club in that short time that the blonde was gone, but now here she was, the mirror-image of Quinn Fabray.

She fixed her chapstick with her finger, before she realized that she really wasn't alone in the bathroom. Metaphors be damned, Quinn was really standing behind her. Rachel slowly turned around, her brown eyes filled with defiance at the blonde literally watching her while she had been arguing with her own mind.

"What's going on, Rachel?" She asked, with more emotion in her voice than Rachel was used to. Pity. She didn't need it.

"What makes you think something's going on?" Rachel shot back, trying not to seem too uptight by turning back around and fixing her eye makeup.

"You know it's noticeable. The different clothes, you acting differently, not to mention your voice and attitude." Quinn folded her arms, trying to match her friend's provocation.

Of course her voice was something to be noticed; it's all the glee club cared about. Though she had some bonding moments, she wasn't positive that the group saw her any more than an annoyance.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rachel responded, the raspiness returning. She couldn't help it if she tried. "Okay, yes. I lost my voice and it's returning. What's it matter to you?"

Quinn stepped closer to Rachel, letting her know that she wasn't intimidated. "Everyone in the glee club noticed. If you're going for attention, then you got it, but your act is clearly more than just asking for attention."

"I'm not like that." Her reply was sharp when she turned around. "I don't need to beg for attention. This is simply me exploring a bit. If you don't like it, you can deal with it." She went back to her face, fixing her hair in the process.

"This isn't you." Quinn said.

Rachel spun around a final time, closing the gap between her and Quinn. "Look; it's obvious you're concerned. Why, I don't know. It might have been appreciated back when there was reason to be concerned, but I know who I am now. I don't need you to try and talk me out of it."

It was silent for a few moments while Rachel's words stuck with Quinn, but one thing she said really stuck out. 'It might have been appreciated back when there was reason to be concerned.' "Rachel, what happened? Is this about your mom?"

Rachel scoffed. "She's not my mom. She's never _been_ my mom." It came out like a growl before she sighed dramatically. "I have to get to class."

She picked up her back to put over her shoulder as she was leaving, but Quinn blocked the exit.

"You're lying." Quinn wasn't prepared for the shove Rachel gave her to move her out of the way. For a midget, she was able to put a little bit of pressure into it. Rachel exited the bathroom and headed down the hall, away from her assigned class, and left Quinn with some answers. And unfortunately, a lot more questions.


	4. Chapter 4

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**A/N:** I appreciate reviews to give me feedback as well as ideas! Please leave a review and give me ideas on what you'd like to see the "new" Rachel Berry do. :D

* * *

Quinn stayed in the bathroom for a little while, fixing her own hair and makeup that also gave her time to think about Rachel. It wasn't just a two-day sore throat that was different; she looked like Quinn, only two months ago. Lost and desperate to find herself. But this was not the way to do it.

_I thought she learned that when I did the same thing._

She didn't want to think bad of Rachel; she was actually trying to be decent, if not friends with her. She just couldn't believe that after trying-in the end, successfully-to get her to rejoin glee club and get back to the way she was before, the real Quinn, Rachel would decide to try it for herself. She definitely needed more answers. And from how the girl was acting now, she'd need help to pry them from her.

Quinn left the bathroom with a heightened confidence, and would have walked to her next class if she hadn't seen Brittany and Santana. They stood close together and both their jaws were dropped at the sight of something around the corner. Quinn slowly walked over to them, with the two cheerios beckoning her to come closer, quickly.

She swiftly closed the distance between them and she paused. "What's going on?" She asked Santana, since Brittany was still distracted.

"See for yourself." The latina pointed around the corner.

Quinn looked around. There was a group of students with the same expression and reaction at the sight in front of them. Against the wall was Dave Karofsky, one of the football players who took great joy in throwing slushies at members of the glee club. But this time around Karofsky didn't have the smug smile and empty Big Quench to show for his assault. It was the jock that had the purple slush on his face and jacket.

The blonde cracked up and laughed along with Santana seeing the football player against the wall with a more than shocked look on his own face. The one thing that they didn't notice right away was the one that threw it. Brittany tapped Santana on the shoulder several times before she actually turned around. "Oh my god."

"What?" Quinn asked, and she was as shocked as Santana after the crowd cleared. There stood Rachel Berry, cup in hand, glaring up at Karofsky.

"I didn't think I'd ever see the day Berry gave a slushie facial. Payback's a bitch." she snickered.

"Santana. Rachel just slushied Karofsky." She lifted her brow.

"Yeah, I know. This new Berry is kinda badass."

Quinn smacked Santana's shoulder harder than she intended. "This new 'badass' Rachel is going to get her ass kicked."

"Or maybe it'll help her rep." Santana shrugged. "Besides, I could have fun with her. Maybe get her to do something really crazy." Quinn looked down nervously.

"That sounds like fun." Brittany said. "But it looks like Rachel's leaving. Guess we'll have to talk to her in glee."

When the three looked again, they could see the hallway full of shocked students parting just to let Rachel pass without a problem. Either from respect or fear, it didn't really matter.

"Something's different." She didn't realize she said anything until they both looked up at Quinn.

"Obviously." Santana rolled her eyes.

"She shoved me in the bathroom." Quinn pointed out.

"Ooo, Berry's getting violent now, huh? Why were you in the bathroom with her?" She lifted her brow.

"I just walked in and she was there. Putting a bunch of crap of her face." Quinn said. "I started talking to her and when she tried to leave she shoved me out of the way."

"Damn." Brittany whispered.

"Maybe we should get the glee club to talk to her-"

"Hold on a minute Q. As you know I've been a lot less vicious towards the midget since we joined glee club. But that doesn't stop the fact that she's a lot less annoying than she was before. Like I said, we could have a lot of fun with the new Berry."

Quinn considered it. Even if she wanted to help Rachel, it might do her some good to live a little. And in this new state, it seemed that she was willing to cross any boundary.

"I dunno, San, I don't think Rachel wants to get in trouble." Brittany said.

"Come on, Britt, I know you kinda wanna hang out with the hobbit. Besides, it doesn't look like she's that concerned about rule-breaking right now."

Brittany nodded. "Okay. We can be friends with Rachel." She smiled.

"Good." Santana smirked.

"What did you have in mind?" Quinn sighed. There was no way to get out of this. As long as they didn't go crazy, it might be fun to experiment with how much they could get away with.

"It looks like Berry's got a grudge. Against who, I don't know. I really don't want to know. But paying a little visit to our friends at Carmel won't get us in much trouble. If we get some more glee-clubbers in on it, I'm sure they'll agree." Santana smiled. Brittany nodded along.

They both looked expectantly at Quinn, who had all but lost all precaution. She nodded with Brittany.

"I'm in."


	5. Chapter 5

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

******A/N:** I love the reviews that give me more ideas! Keep them up!

FabPezBerry78: I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Your reviews on every chapter helps keep me going. c:

1moredreamer: Hopefully the reason(s) for the "new" Rachel will slowly be revealed. The Unholy Trinity are on seemingly better terms with her since second season, while the other reasons you pointed out can be agreed with. Thanks for your review. c:

* * *

Will was smart enough to excuse Rachel from the assignment this week. Her voice had improved, if slightly, but any strain being put on it could cause more damage. It was worth it to risk a simple assignment.

"Okay guys. Since we are pretty much done with our assignment, I want to continue our set list for sectionals. Ideas?" Silence greeted him.

"Come on guys, let's see some effort here." Will made another attempt to get them interested. "Rachel?"

"What?" She responded, picking her head up from Finn's shoulder.

He pulled back slightly, once again curious and slightly offended from her behavior. "Do you have any ideas for Sectionals?"

Rachel shrugged. "Not really."

"That isn't like you. Usually you're the first to give suggestions." If he was ever going to find out more, he figured that glee club was the best place to do it. He figured that the rest of the students were wondering the same thing.

"Well, things change." Will would have liked to give a stinging retort but it seemed fate decided to let the bell dismiss the class.

The glee-clubbers took their time leaving but the room was soon vacant. Besides the fact that two stayed behind. Rachel still sat in the same spot as before while Quinn approached her.

"Hey, Rachel." Quinn sat beside her. The girl in question didn't respond right away-she only gave a raised brow and a curious look. Will started sorting his papers, though not-so-secretly listened in. He wasn't proud of it, but sometimes it was too tempting.

He watched as Quinn leaned over to Rachel, cupping her hand to whisper in the girl's ear. She nodded slowly and both of them got up together and walked out of the room before Will got a chance to make any judgements.

* * *

"What did you need me for, Quinn?" Rachel's smart tone of voice and her crossed arms only fueled the blonde's confidence.

She had noticed Rachel staying a few minutes after glee since Monday, so she figured it would be a good time to get her by herself to tell her about the prank they were planning. So far, so good.

"We saw what you did to Karofsky yesterday." Start with something safe.

"The jerk had it coming." Rachel shrugged.

"Oh, I agree." Quinn continued. "And right now I kind of like this new Rachel. Santana brought up an idea for a prank that I thought you might like to take part in." The girl's eyes looked up in interest.

"We all know that things didn't really work out with Jesse. Maybe you've already forgiven him, but it doesn't seem like he deserves it. I know you're still mad at him."

"Why do you say that?" Sarcasm filled Rachel's response.

"Trust me Rachel, I know. You don't get egged by someone like Jesse St. James and not hold a grudge."

"Go on." She grumbled.

Quinn frowned. Was Rachel really this willing to do something bad for probably the first thing in her life? She had gone through with what Santana told her. She thought it might be fun to cause some trouble with Berry, but the softer side of her also thought it might give her a chance to make Rachel talk.

"Me, Santana and Brittany thought it would be fun to go to Carmel and catch up with our friends in Vocal Adrenaline. Maybe leave their cars with something to remind them of us." Quinn smiled when Rachel looked down, deep in thought.

"After what Jesse did to you, what better way to give back then by revenge on his team? They won't even know what hit them." Rachel gave a small smile that Quinn took for success.

"Yeah, I'll do it." she said.

"Lunch-time tomorrow is when we strike. Meet us in the choir room then." Rachel gave a half-hearted smile before walking away toward her next class. Phase one down. Now the materials.

She turned the corner, only to be knocked into by another student. She was about to start yelling until she realized it was Puck. She groaned. Did he need to bother her now?

"What do you want Puck?" She sighed; she really needed to get to class.

"Nothin' much." He leaned on the locker next to her. "Just wanna know what your plans are with Berry."

"There are no plans." This conversation would turn out to be something stupid. She tried going around, but Puck stopped her.

"Hey, I'm not judging. I'm respectful to my fellow jews." He referred to Rachel. "But if anything's going down with Vocal Adrenaline, I want to be included." Quinn had to admit it was a little hard to take him seriously when he pouted like that.

"Ugh. Yes, we are planning payback. Something that you of all people were not supposed to find out about."

"Count me in." Puck silenced the comment that was waiting on Quinn's lips. "Any fight that goes down has to include the Puckster. I gotta make sure you amateurs have someone to show you how it's done." His goofy smile was back, which made the blonde sigh.

"Fine, you can help out. Just _don't _tell anyone. Especially Mr. Schue." She warned.

"You got my word, Babe." Puck winked, and then walked away, leaving Quinn to whether this was a big mistake.


	6. Chapter 6

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

******A/N:** I want to give some sympathy to poor Brittany, who's too distracted to know what's right from wrong. But that's why I love her. c: I _am_ trying to make my chapters longer, but it really depends on how much work I want to put in. I'm focusing on getting out a chapter or two a day so I'm doing my best. c:

* * *

Santana and Brittany, unaware of the fact that Noah Puckerman was now included in the plan, had met in the choir room earlier than necessary. They were skipping class to drive to Carmel anyway, so what did it matter now?

"Why are we going to Carmel, San?" Brittany spoke up. She was only a follower to both her and Quinn, and she mostly just went with what they said. But then again, she was also included in every fun prank or plan they ever had. Win-win on both sides.

"We already talked about it Britt, we're gonna go to Carmel and play a simple prank on Vocal Adrenaline. Getting even on our side." Santana grinned, while Brittany shook her head in confusion.

"I thought we were only visiting them."

"Where's the fun in that?" Brittany's smile was back and Santana leaned back in her chair in contentment. This would surely be fun. She might not admit it out loud, but Rachel was a force to be reckoned with. Of course she was annoying and most of the time self-centered, but she was ambitious. And with her new attitude Santana could see an opportunity presenting itself.

"We just have to make sure Quinn and Rachel get here on time. Mr. Schue can't find out about this." She rested her head on Brittany's shoulder.

"I made Lord Tubbington promise not to say anything." Santana made a face but did not comment. She was used to her friend's strange comments. "I didn't think Rachel would ever pull a prank."

"You've seen her, Britt, she's been acting different. I'd take badass Rachel to annoying Rachel any day." she rolled her eyes dramatically.

"But... she looks so sad." Santana frown and lifted her head from the cheerio's shoulder.

"What are you talking about?"

"I walked in the bathroom the other day. Someone told me there was cotton candy in the stalls." Santana ignored her friend's distracted nature. "And when I walked in Rachel was just coming out. She looked sick. And she looked really sad, too."

The latina moved away guiltily. Though some might object, the prank was not to get Rachel in trouble. In fact, it might be the opposite. The new Rachel seemed cool, and getting her to let loose and have fun seemed like a good idea. It still does.

"Then I bet this prank will make her feel better." Santana said brightly, trying to cheer up her now downtrodden friend. "Berry is fine. She's just... experimenting." _Good choice of words._

"Like Quinn?"

"Sure, Britt. But Quinn was depressed and kinda psycho. The midget knows her boundaries. She was probably really excited to get the chance to get back at those kids that egged her." The latina hated seeing her friend like this, band hoped she could cheer her up too.

"We're not doing anything bad, right? Like when Puck and Finn slashed their tires?" Brittany asked.

"No way. I'm not trying to get suspended. Just a simple prank, but they'll get the message."

Brittany finally seemed to be satisfied, and so leaned against Santana. If Santana could be friends with Rachel, so could she! She giggled at the thought.

"What is it?"

The blonde laughed some more. "Just that we're gonna be doing something fun with Rachel. She can be our friend."

"Maybe, Britt. I don't know yet."

"I'm sure she'd like to have a friend." Santana stopped at her comment, and had to agree, if a little. Settling for a quick peck on the lips, Brittany lay her head back in the same fashion, only to be brought back to Earth moments later by a surprised Santana.

"What are you doing here Puckerman?" She asked while gritting her teeth. Brittany looked up, and there he was; the badass with a mohawk.

"What, is the choir room off limits? You planning something behind my back?" He gave a smirk that suddenly made Santana nervous.

"No. Just waiting for Quinn."

"And Rachel?" Was he really that smart?

"You know?" Santana asked, and by the grin that Puck gave, she was right.

"Of course I know. My baby mama isn't very good at keeping secrets." He laughed. "And I was invited to join you guys. Well, not exactly invited, but you get the point." Brittany giggled when he wrapped an arm around a very flustered Santana.

"I can't believe we have to ride with you. It was already going to be hard sneaking to Carmel without you being in the way." She huffed.

"Come on, you know you want me there." Santana snorted and pulled out of his tight embrace.

"Hi Rachel!" Puck and Santana lifted their heads from their small scuffle to be greeted by both Quinn and Rachel at the door. Quinn was dressed in a yellow tank-top and shorts-no doubt it would be warm today-while Rachel had a black tank-top with a black and white skirt.

Santana observed her more, trying to understand what Brittany was talking about. Sure, the midget seemed to be adding onto her changing attitude every day. Today, there were bright red highlights on the tips of her hair with darker makeup to match. But when her eyes met Rachel's, they were blocked from a cold stare. She settled for looking at Quinn.

"Care to say why you _invited_ him?" She stared pointedly at Puck while he grinned nonchalantly at Quinn.

"I didn't. He ambushed me in the hall and demanded to be a part of this plan."

"Demanded is such a strong word..." Puck started but a glare from Santana silenced him. They all looked to Rachel who was held in the arms of Brittany.

"This is gonna be so cool, Rachel. We're all gonna be friends and have some fun." You couldn't help but smile at the blonde. Even if Rachel didn't, Brittany knew the sincerity in her brown eyes was real.

"Ugh, alright of this mushy stuff. It's time to hit the road." The latina cut in.

"Cool. I'm drivin'." Puck answered, and no one objected.

Santana might have protested to sitting in the back instead of in the passenger seat (which was claimed by Quinn), but this really gave her a chance to get a look at Rachel. She was silently thankful that she seemed too distracted by Brittany to notice her.

The latina was cursing herself for acting like a creeper, but she contented herself with leaning back when she was too tired to pay anymore attention. Yes, Rachel's look changed. That was definitely a step up from her reindeer sweaters, but something she couldn't shake was that cold look in her eyes when she first stepped in the choir room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

******A/N:** You guys should see how excited I get when I find out I got reviews. It's like a kid on Christmas. :D

1moredreamer: I appreciate the ideas and suggestions you give me. c: And besides Mr. Schue playing only a small part, I thought I'd keep him in character but also show that he does care for Rachel, even if he doesn't always show it. Brittany is pretty inocent and can make friends fairly easily, while Santana and Quinn might notice Rachel becuase they were always the ones to pick on her.

4EverStrong: I can guarantee that Shelby _will_ play a part in this story. c:

* * *

The group of five didn't take long on the road, but that should be expected with Noah Puckerman driving. The trip to Carmel might have taken up to two and a half hours, but they succeeded in making it in a little over an hour. They left quickly, knowing they were skipping more than just lunch. Santana had to give props to Rachel, who she remembered never skipped class before.

"Do we have everything?" She heard Quinn ask Puck from the front seat.

"Yup. Ten cartons of eggs and three bottles of spray paint."

"Are you an idiot?" Santana asked. They only planned on the eggs, but leave it to Pickerman to pick up spray paint. Maybe he picked up a chainsaw to get them in even more trouble.

"Relax. It's washable. I'm not ready to risk suspension again." He sighed dramatically.

"Is Puck going soft now?" Rachel called from the back. It was one of the few times she spoke during the trip, and Quinn had to laugh.

"Looks like it." She answered, punching him lightly in the arm.

"Hey, no punching the driver," Brittany said. "I promised Lord Tubbington that we wouldn't get into a car crash. I don't think he believed me though."

"We're already here, Britt." The latina told her, and the blonde clapped excitedly in response. "You ready for some fun, Berry?"

"You don't have to ask me again. I'm ready for anything." The brunette cracked her knuckles in false preparation while she rummaged through the materials they brought.

Puck came to a slow stop, not even a block away from Carmel, but out of sight to avoid any confrontation before they even started. Both him and Quinn unbuckled their seat belts and opened the side doors to help.

Each of them were given two cartons, and at least one bottle of spray paint. Except for Brittany; Santana didn't want to risk giving it to her. Instead, she passed the extra to Rachel.

"I'm sure you're more eager than any of us, so you can take it. Just don't do anything risky."

Rachel smiled. "But the risk is what makes it fun." She walked ahead of them.

Santana became more nervous with the confidence that the girl was showing. Sure, Rachel had always been confident. It was what made her both annoying and daring. But this could get them in trouble. Then she mentally slapped herself. Since when did she care about getting in trouble? Or if the midget got in trouble? Whatever. She could get in trouble, but keeping an eye on Rachel was included in the plan. She caught up to Rachel and walked beside her, leaving Quinn, Brittany, and Puck walking behind.

* * *

The five teenagers were wary when they approached the school. Surely everyone was in class, but a stray student or teacher could always catch them. Maybe it would even be humorous if Vocal Adrenaline found them; it would prove a further point not to mess with New Directions.

"Here's how it's going down." Santana took the lead in the plan, without even a word of protest from Queen Bee Quinn. "Q, you'll take Britt over to the south end and start with the cars there. It's probably some newbies' cars anyway." She winked, and Quinn nodded. Brittany simply faded into space while the shorter blonde led her away.

"I can take the north end." Puck volunteered. "They won't even know what hit them." Santana didn't care to call him back because he had already left.

"Guess that leaves me and you to head toward the middle." Rachel told her. The latina was surprised at her audacious edge, but she wasn't about to argue. "Sure Berry."

It took them a few minutes, where Santana was being discreet with their whereabouts while Rachel marched boldly out in the open. "Here." She handed the shorter girl one of the cartons, and without warning, she opened it and grabbed a handful of the eggs, wasting no time in chucking them at one of the cars.

"Daring." Santana commented, and her grin wasn't hard to miss. "But let me show you how it's done." She took a few herself and aimed it at the back, where they cracked in different places and began to stain.

"I don't need to be shown how to give payback." Rachel growled, causing Santana to pause and then continue with her aiming. Rachel took the opposite approach and simply chuckled the eggs at the cars without any grace.

The latina made a call to Quinn and Puck to see how they were doing.

"We got it covered over here." Santana could hear giggling in the background that confirmed Brittany was alright.

"But you might not wanna come over here. It's a mess." She could almost see the smug smile that Puck held.

She put the phone on speaker so Rachel could listen in.

"No one has noticed so far, though, it's completely quiet." Puck said, throwing the rest of his eggs at a red sports car.

"How are things Britt?" Santana asked.

"I got egg guts on me." The blonde complained.

"Brittany, you're supposed to aim before you throw." She heard Quinn tell her.

"Oh."

Rachel took this time to take the spray paint from her bag and approach one of the cars. In big, red letters spelled out "PAYBACK". She was quite proud of herself. Even Santana gave a proud nod at what she had written.

"Crap."

"What is it, Puck?" The latina was annoyed and abandoned her post at the car with Rachel.

"Vocal Adrenaline. They're coming to the parking lot."

"There's another group of them. They've seen us." Quinn said quickly, and Brittany gasped.

"We gotta get out now. As much as I would love to rub this in their faces, I wasn't expecting to be outnumbered." Puck added, and from the noises in the background Santana could tell that he wasn't lying.

"We're heading back to the truck now. San, are you and Rachel okay?"

"Yeah we're-" Santana turned around, and was shocked to find herself completely alone.

"San?" Brittany noted the silence.

"Santana, what's wrong?" Quinn added.

"We got a slight problem." She chuckled nervously.

"What did you do?" Quinn hissed.

"Um... I kinda lost Berry."

_This plan is going downhill, fast._


	8. Chapter 8

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

******A/N:** Enjoy the chapter! This one was a lot of fun to write. c:

foreverfinchel6: Thank you! I do my best to please. c:

4EverStrong: Everyone wonders about Shelby. Makes me wonder about more ways I can include her...

1moredreamer: I want to say thanks; your reviews are really helpful. I like to think that I can surprise people, and I think losing Rachel would be a good plot twist. But Rachel's fathers will most likely not play a roll in this story. They would notice her change at home and worry but I just don't show it. :3

* * *

In the next few minutes the four teens minus Rachel had met up and were currently making a break for Puck's truck.

"I can't believe you lost Rachel!" Quinn yelled. She was more pissed than Santana had seen in a while. And that was coming from her.

"Please, you would have done the same thing! At least I didn't do it on purpose! I was talking to you when it happened. I turned my back for a few seconds and she was gone!"

"You guys make it sound like she had to be babysat." Puck put in dryly.

"She does!" The two girls answered simultaneously, their eyes daggers as they glared at each other.

"Get in." Puck helped Brittany into the truck and allowed the two bickering girls to climb in as well. They settled down and tried to recollect their breath, all the while keeping a lookout for any Vocal Adrenaline members. They had begun to chase the four after spotting them. They had to work fast.

"Q, call her." Santana growled and Quinn complied. It was only when they heard ringing that their blood ran cold.

"Hello?" Brittany answered brightly.

The three teens looked back, and Brittany smiled back at them, while holding Rachel's phone to her ear. They were just digging themselves into a deeper hole, and they couldn't even remember when things started to go wrong.

"You let the midget leave her phone in the car! Ustedes son unos idiotas!" Santana cursed, her hands flying with her anger.

"Come on San, we'll find Rach." Brittany comforted her.

"We'll wait a bit and then go back and see where she is." Quinn added.

"When-" Puck started, but was cut off with the buzzing of his own phone. He quickly pulled it from his pocket. "Go for Puckerman." He greeted.

"_Puck, where are you?"_ Finn. Great.

He put the phone on speaker because, in this situation, they would all be in trouble. "Nowhere important."

"_Did you ditch today?"_ More questions wasn't what he wanted.

"Yeah!" Brittany called from the back, causing Puck to facepalm with Quinn shaking her head.

"_Was that Brittany? Is Santana and Quinn with you too?"_

They would already be in trouble anyway, and knowing where the cheerios were would prevent any further confusion.

"Yeah, they're here. We just took a day off." He hoped that Finn would make it quick; they had to find a certain jewish girl who didn't know how much trouble she was causing.

"I didn't see you guys in glee, so I was worried. What about Rachel? Is she there too?" Puck looked at Santana in a panic, and she shared the same expression. Taking control, Santana grabbed the phone from him.

"This isn't the time, Finnocence. Why did you call?" Her voice was seething.

"_Mr. Schue is wondering where you guys are. He was about to go to Sue and ask about the rest of you guys too. He told me to try and call Puck. Mr. Schue says that if you aren't at school within the next hour there would be consequences."_

Puck sighed. "Fine, we'll be there." He grabbed the phone back and snapped it shut before Finn or Santana could protest.

"Idiot! What about Rachel?" Santana smacked him in the side of the head.

"You heard Finn; Mr. Schue already knows we ditched, and if it gets to Principal Figgins, I don't know what we're going to do." He shouted back as he started the car. "They can't know about this. Me and Finn almost got expelled last time!"

"So we're just going to leave her?" Quinn hissed.

"Rachel's our friend. We shouldn't leave her." Brittany agreed sadly.

"Right now we don't have a choice!" Puck said, finally managing to silence the three girls. He didn't like this anymore than they did, but their best bet would be to get to McKinley and hope that they wouldn't have more trouble waiting for them.

* * *

Rachel could hear the many voices that were in fury at what had happened to their vehicles, and she felt amusement and pride that she was the one to cause it. This was what Santana was talking about when she said to let loose; it felt great.

Even if her goal was to have as much fun and take as many risks as she could, she would be stupid if she purposely wanted to get caught during the act. And, by the noise that was coming increasingly closer, her hopes were rising that she would become scarce. That hope was dashed as soon as she turned the corner and came into contact with a group of about 7 members of Vocal Adrenaline.

Taking another effort, she turned around, but was indeed stopped by more teenagers. Of course, as soon as she turned around the reality of the situation was that she was surrounded by Vocal Adrenaline, and they didn't look happy. She might have laughed at the reaction they had to their prank if the situation wasn't so serious.

While unable to escape, the middle of the crowd parted and a tall, curly haired teen stepped forward, eyeing Rachel with a look of either anger or amusement. Jesse St. James. How fitting.

"It's been a while, Rachel Berry. Something seems a little different." He chuckled.

"Everything is the same as before, St. Jackass." She growled, making Jesse pull back only for a second. No one besides her teammates ever called him that. "Except under different circumstances."

"Did you try to prevent your teammates from making a mess of our cars?" He asked.

"I was happy to be involved." That sentence proved that her brain had not yet caught up with her mouth. Surrounded by the people she helped to prank and the boy that had done the same to her was not a good situation. But she wasn't worried about. Take everything in a stride.

"Why don't you guys go back to rehearsal? I can deal with this." There were some grumbles and agreements going through the group, and they soon scattered, leaving the two alone.

Jesse stepped closer, which made Rachel lean her back against the wall of the building.

"You seem to have held a grudge. Is this appealing to you?" He pointed to the cars, even to where the egg shells littered the ground.

Rachel crossed her arms indignantly. "As I said, I was happy to do so."

"Then maybe you'll be happy to come with me. We can talk more about this." Rachel protested when he took her hand and started to lead her inside. "A new attitude means new consequences." Rachel shrugged and through her situation, her eyes were never rid of her icy glare.


	9. Chapter 9

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**********A/N:** I love Jesse no matter how many stupid things he does. 3

1moredreamer: It is kind of amusing with the switch; now Rachel doesn't seem to care while Quinn and Santana (and of course Brittany!) are the helpful ones.

4EverStrong: Some stories I see involving Shelby makes her very motherly, mostly forgetting that she was/is a strong and intimidating coach. I prefer characters to stay in-character most of the time so I can imagine it actually happening in the series.

* * *

Many attempts to talk to Rachel on Jesse's part was getting him nowhere. She had refused to say anything, while he was slightly amused at how stubborn she was being. Though the cursing wasn't necessary, it proved that she was involved.

He came back as an assistant coach to Vocal Adrenaline, ever since Shelby Corcoran took the lead once more. After starting to raise a child, he knew that she missed coaching, so he suggested she return. It took a while, but she finally accepted.

They had been in rehearsal when another member texted them saying something about New Directions. Jesse shrugged it off, but then they were informed that they were pelting eggs at their cars. He sighed. How immature could Finn and his friends be?

What surprised him is that it wasn't Finn and his friends; Finn wasn't involved at all. It was Puck, Quinn, Brittany, and Santana. Then one more. He doubted that it was Rachel from the start when he first saw her ruthlessly throwing eggs at his car. After the four had made a run for it, that was when he noticed that Rachel wasn't with them.

A smirk crossed his face when he found out she was still around. One of the group had seen her running around the building to catch up with her friends. That was when she was ambushed.

Now he was leading her down the hall of Carmel, and she didn't even complain. Oh, but she wanted to.

The sweet taste of revenge was still on her tongue, but getting caught by Vocal Adrenaline threw a wrench in the plan. The worst that they planned for was getting caught by Mr. Schue or Principal Figgins, it was stupid of them to not consider being caught by their enemies. But then again, they weren't in trouble. Rachel was. And, strangely enough, she felt a bolt of adrenaline knowing she threw herself into the lion's den.

"You can sit here. I'll be back." Jesse told her, and she wanted to laugh in his face. Maybe she could be dramatic and bolt as soon as he released her hand. No, that would get her nowhere. Puck, Quinn, Santana and Brittany probably got away as soon as they could.

"Whatever you say." She grumbled, sitting down in the cushioned chair. Jesse gave her a long look, and finally freed her hand. Did he really think she was going to run now?

Still, her agitation grew when she found that him being gone left her with nothing to do. She twirled her hair, checked her makeup, snapped her fingers, but nothing satisfied her bored mind. She knew why. After being so pumped up and energized at breaking the rules, it left her tired and distracted.

Rachel looked around some more, counting in her head how long Jesse had been gone. She even dared to look the members of Vocal Adrenaline straight in the eye as they filed through the door. Many of them scowled at her, but one girl had the guts to actually confront her.

"Didn't get away with your little prank, huh?" She laughed. "Figures. New Directions were always amateurs."

"Did you happen to find the others that managed to outrun twenty of your guys?" The furious look the girl gave her made her grin. "Thought so."

The tall girl grabbed Rachel by the collar, pulling her up. "This won't be forgotten. You think you guys can't be touched, that you're better. New's flash: we will destroy you." She dropped the Rachel back in her seat, and walked away with the rest of her team. The brunette grumbled about her shirt, but wanted so bad to go and knock the girl's teeth out. Unfortunately, the middle of the hallway wouldn't be an appropriate place to do so.

* * *

"Shelby?" Jesse's voice was loud outside of the glass door as he knocked insistently. The coach stared at him, waiting for him to shut up, but finally waved him in when it was clear he wasn't leaving.

"I'm busy, so you better make this quick."

"Oh, I just thought you might want to know some members of New Directions were pelting our cars with eggs." He smiled when Shelby stood up.

"What?" She answered, the gears in her head turning.

"We were rehearsing like you told us, and we got a very interesting text from Chris saying that some show choirs losers were in the parking lot. Eggs and spraypaint were involved. Puck and some Cheerios were some mentioned."

Shelby dragged a hand through her hair. Did it ever end? The rivalry between both show choirs was high, but acting like children didn't seem to do any good. She sighed. "Okay, Jesse. Thanks for telling me. I'll deal with everything later." She made a move to sit back down, but Jesse stopped her.

"Oh, but that's not it. While some of them drove off, one strayed away from the group. I figured you might want to talk to them; they're not going anywhere."

Shelby's eyes narrowed curiously. Sure Jesse was smug, but he looked specifically proud. "Fine, send them in." She muttered.

* * *

Rachel had turned herself in the chair, and her legs now hung off the armrest. Teachers walking past might have commented, but she did well to send them walking with her sharp words echoing in their heads.

"Young lady, you should get to class." One said.

"I don't even go here. You should mind your own business." The woman huffed and continued down the hall until the click of her heels were silent.

Rachel could have sworn she had fallen asleep but with no luck, Jesse had interrupted her. He helped her up and even his friendly face couldn't hide the impatient feeling in the hand that held tightly onto hers.

"Are you really turning me into your principal? Vocal Adrenaline is threatened by a simple prank?" Rachel laughed darkly. What was the worst he could do?

She figured the principal's office was the large room down the hall, but she was surprised when Jesse pulled her into a darker, smaller room. More like a work place. Her eyes trailed the office, looking for some explanation, but what she wasn't expecting was the voice of her mother.

"Rachel?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**********A/N:** There's a lot of ways to include Shelby is my opinion, so we'll see how it does.

1moredreamer: Even though I agree that Shelby wasn't exactly fair to Rachel, I don't think she really understood how much Rachel needed her. After living without her for years, I can see where Shelby would think that Rachel was happy enough without her.

* * *

The urge to run out of the room right then increased, and the malice in her eyes grew. She wouldn't look at Jesse because she could almost feel the grin plastered on his face. So this was his plan all along? Throw her into the lion's den-a.k.a her mother? Oh, how appropriate it would be to just beat him down right then. Put the blame on him.

From the coldness she felt, she also had to reason that if Jesse were to come to mind, she figured that it wasn't entirely his fault. Sure, Rachel was still pissed about the egging incident, but she pretty much forgave him by going to Junior prom with him. She could even be grateful that he gave her the opportunity to blow up within reason.

The room was tense and silent, and the only person who looked remotely comfortable was Jesse, who still leaned against the door. Even Shelby's dark glare couldn't phase him.

"She was involved in the prank. The rest of them booked it, which gave me the fortunate outcome of finding one Rachel Berry." He put a hand on the girl's shoulder, which she shrugged off angrily.

"Rachel... what happened to you?" Shelby looked her over. Her clothes were different, obviously. But the fact that she looked almost identical to how Quinn dressed in the beginning of the year was unsettling. Just knowing that Rachel was involved in a prank as small as this told her that the girl was thinking different. She might have expected the brunette to open up, but all she got was a huffing teenager.

"Nothing you need to know about." At least Rachel's stubborn personality was still around.

"Looks like she's trying to uphold a different image. If she's hanging with Puckerman and the cheerios, something is different." Her eyes were daggers to Jesse, and for the first time he became uncomfortable.

"Is this true Rachel?" Shelby's voice was less angry, but held a great deal of curiosity.

"Is what true?" Rachel found this game to be fun.

"Were you trying to cause trouble with my team? You and your friends?"

"They're not exactly my friends. And you have no proof that I was a part of it." Even directly stating it to Jesse didn't prove anything. She folded her legs into a comfortable position, her smirk and dancing eyes showing just how much she was enjoying this.

"Jesse, will you give us a minute?" Shelby was surprised at the look of panic in her daughter's eyes.

"He can stay." Rachel protested, but Jesse was already out the door. Taking a second to compose herself, the woman confronted Rachel.

"What is going on with you, Rachel? You're not the kind of person to mess with people. You and your team didn't want anything to do with Vocal Adrenaline last time I checked."

"Then you don't know me very well." She answered darkly. "I make my own choices. You don't need to interrogate me."

"I don't think this is really you." She responded, doing her best to match Rachel's tone. "I think you're putting on a mask."

"You don't know anything, Shelby. Quit trying to get me to talk. You had your chance last time and that's it. End of story."

"It is not 'end of story'!" Shelby shouted, becoming even more angered when Rachel barely reacted. "There is a reason that you wanted to be involved with something like this. You're angry."

"Of course I am!" Rachel hissed, standing to almost match Shelby's height. "There's a lot to be angry about. The only thing is that you left, and that was the end. I don't want to talk to you."

"Rachel, I already explained this to you. You're eighteen, you don't need me. But I am still your mother."

"Fuck this." Hearing her daughter cuss and seeing her about to leave the room snapped Shelby back into the coach she was. Sometimes she had to be hard.

She grabbed Rachel's upper arm before she could take another step, and pulled her back. "Sit your ass down. We're not done talking." No matter how old she was, Shelby knew that Rachel needed someone to sit her down and tell her how wrong she was. It wasn't much of a surprise that Rachel complied, but Shelby was still uneasy.

"You aren't the same girl I sang with in the auditorium back at McKinley. I don't recognize _this_ girl." She looked her daughter up and down. "I understand your anger. I wasn't as supportive as I should have been. But I am still your mother."

"You were never my mother!" Rachel shot back. "You left when I _needed_ you. You're pretty messed up if you think that's what makes a mother." She growled.

"I wanted to be a mother to you, Rachel. I really did. I still do. But not like this."

"This is who I am." The answer was as Shelby expected.

"If you believe that, then it proves just how wrong you are. You're just like Quinn; lost."

Rachel stood up quickly, grabbing her bag with her. She kept her eyes glued on her mother in anger, annoyance, and frustration. "I am not lost. No thanks to you, I know who I am now."

Shelby was practically speechless. Had her daughter really turned out like _this_ on her conscience? If she tried hard enough, she might be able to bring the real Rachel Berry back. But only time would allow that.

"I'm letting you know that I will be contacting Mr. Schuester about this, Rachel." She said. No matter how bad she felt about the girl, consequences still stood. It could be assumed that the four other students involved were back at McKinley by now. Rachel didn't reveal anything when she looked back for a second, and walked out with more confidence than when she had walked in.

* * *

Jesse heard the whole conversation from around the corner, and almost missed it when Rachel had walked out. He considered consoling her, but then thought it might be too soon to bring it up. Instead, he caught up to her. "Rachel!"

"What?" The girl spun around. He expected that she might be in tears, but her face was blank, completely clear of any emotion.

"I want you to come to the auditorium with me." He said, and she stopped.

"Why would I do that?" Her smart reply only made Jesse grin more.

"I know that Shelby's going to call Schuester, so I thought we could hang out for a bit. I can show you around."

Rachel ran her hands through her hair in the same manner Shelby had. "Fine, Jesse. It's only a matter of time before Shelby hunts me down again." Rachel rolled her eyes and Jesse laughed. He led her in the direction of the auditorium, leaving Shelby to watch from behind.


	11. Chapter 11

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**************A/N:** Come on guys, let's cut Shelby some slack! xD Seriously though, Rachel isn't in the clear for everything she's been doing. When Shelby left, she truly felt that Rachel didn't need her anymore. If Rachel had spoken up about any problems she was having, things might have turned out different.

1moredreamer: I didn't mean to make Shelby seem like a bitch. When she said, "I wanted to be your mother, but not like this," she means more along the lines of them having a complicated relationship. She would rather have them start off being friends before working up to a mother-daughter relationship.

JusCurious: A more detailed review on why the chapter was disappointing would help me to avoid problems in later chapters.

waterproof88: I think they have a lot to deal with before they can try a civil relationship. c:

* * *

It was hard to watch her daughter walk away with Jesse, especially after she blew up in front of her. More than anything, she wanted to hold her and try to understand all of her anger. But instead, Rachel was acting out, blocking out anyone who wanted to try and help her. She wasn't sure Jesse would be the right person, since him and Rachel had a bad history, but she had to accept that maybe someone who knew her better had a better chance of talking to her.

What might have surprised her is that she was the last to know of the egging incident on Rachel more than a year back, and she was the last to know this time, too. The team was getting reckless, and anything involving Rachel made her increasingly concerned. Right now, the best she could do was get a hold of Will Schuester and take it from there.

The phone sat untouched in her office, unused because of the constant need to be on the go with her cell phone. Jesse was actually lucky to catch her in her office; she was in at random times and only for short time periods.

She had a list of important contacts in her desk, though Rachel's number had not been used more than once. A sigh escaped her when she realized how wrong she was on her part. Her daughter acting out wasn't the right way out of her situation, but Shelby already knew she could not excuse herself either.

Vocal Adrenaline kept her busy. She knew what she was getting herself into when she decided to join back up with them, but she was eager to continue her passion. Beth was her main concern, but she kept up with her choir. It was what kept her grounded. Now that Rachel was included, she was thrown off-course. For once, she wasn't the strict coach that knew that she was doing.

In her own thoughts, her subconscious had already dialed Will's number. Only three rings until he answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Will, it's Shelby Corcoran."

"Funny hearing from you, Shelby. What's new?" There was a curious tone in his voice that confirmed he knew nothing about what had happened. Yet.

"It would have been nice to have a normal conversation with you, but I'm sorry to say that I'm calling regarding some of your students." She mentally groaned. Normal conversations were way behind her.

"Would this happen to be about the five students that ditched class today?" Ditched? That was news to Shelby. Or maybe it wasn't. She hoped that they simply had a day off and decided to do something immature, but ditching showed that they had actually planned this in advance.

"Did your students talk to you at all?" Shelby bit her lip. Though they deserved to be punished, she was strangely reluctant.

"No." He answered. "They got back about ten minutes ago. When I asked them where they went, they said Breadstix."

"Oh." Of course they would lie about it. Shelby remembered when she ditched in high school; telling the truth never seemed to be an option.

"Shelby? Do you know something that I don't?"

"Your kids were here at Carmel." She paused, and when Will didn't reply she continued. "They decided to play a prank and egg some of the students' cars. They left before being caught."

"I'm sorry, Shelby." Will sighed, dragging his hand across his face in exasperation. "I thought they learned their lesson. They haven't done something like this in a while."

"It's fine, Will." She assured. "Though I'm not exactly thrilled about it, I'm glad the tires of my students' cars are still in tact." Will laughed a little, and then stopped.

"Shelby, was Rachel with them?" The coach was unsure about the Rachel situation, not knowing whether Will was the right person to talk to. Still, telling him the truth about the other students almost made her obligated to tell him about her.

"Rachel is still here." She heard Will sigh again. "Jesse and some others found her, though she wasn't exactly clear about being involved. I'm sorry to think she was, though. It's not just a coincidence that she was here the same day as your four other kids."

"I'll have to talk to them." Will groaned. "Thanks Shelby. And... is Rachel okay?"

What did he think was wrong with her? Was he concerned too? "She's fine, Will. I won't drill her into the ground like I do my students." She managed a laugh.

"I know." It sounded like Will wanted to say more, but he cut it off. "I'm going to have to figure out what to do about Rachel."

"I'll take care of it, Will. I'll bring her back to McKinley."

"Thanks, Shelby. I appreciate it." He said. "I'm gonna go talk to the kids now. We'll keep in touch."

"Sure thing. Bye." Ending the call, she leaned back in her chair. What a day. Now going to find Rachel was the last thing on her list.

* * *

The auditorium was the same as she remembered it. She remembered the stage with the brightest lights she had ever experienced, and the balcony seats where Mercedes, Quinn, and her had spied on Vocal Adrenaline, the day she realized Shelby Corcoran was her mother.

She grumbled. Even thinking about her made her want to bash her head through a wall. Well, maybe that was a bit much, but it was frustrating all the same. She didn't need to talk to Shelby. No matter what she said, Rachel knew she wasn't lost.

"I still remember our time on this stage." Jesse's words brought her out of her thoughts. "The look on your face the first time around was priceless." Even his million dollar smile didn't result in any emotion on her face.

She blinked to take in everything that she was looking that. Even now, she could admit that Vocal Adrenaline had more than New Directions ever would. Except maybe heart. A lot of people said the same thing, but that didn't change Rachel's silent amazement at the rival show choir.

"I remember, too." They made their way backstage, to where they both settled against the wall. Talking seemed simple to them. "I remember coming here and being shocked by how much you had that we didn't. It was a new experience." Her eyes were still downcast, and Jesse had to move closer to see even a little sentiment in her gaze.

"It's funny the things we remember." Jesse said. It was an effort, but using his hand on her chin, he lifted her head up to look at him. "I remember you being as beautiful as you are now the first time we met. You having the same, stubborn attitude you always did." Rachel scoffed at the words.

He brought his face closer to her's, his voice full of both longing and concern. "I still think about you, Rachel. Maybe in a different light," he looked over her different clothes. "But you're still the same. I missed you." With that, he brought his lips to meet her's.

It was an out of body experience. The feeling of kissing Jesse after so long was refreshing, exciting even. The feeling of his hands on her waist, tracing circles on her thighs... it was a feeling she might have missed. But even with her new "badass" and "nobody can hurt me" attitude, she was still a respectful person. She was with Finn. And she was pretty certain that he wouldn't be a fan of her kissing Jesse St. James.

His kissing became more passionate as the seconds passed, and it was hard for her to resist. She told herself over and over that it didn't mean anything... or she hoped desperately that it didn't. She tried prying herself away once, but Jesse's soft grasp held her in place. Giving into any temptation seemed fine at this point.

"What the hell?"

Jesse finally released her, which left her mind reeling and her eyes trying to block off any type of sentiment she could be showing. She looked over his shoulder to see, and the nervous look he sported said everything. He had just been busted by her mother.


	12. Chapter 12

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**************A/N:** This is more of a transition chapter, sorry guys. Not every chapter gets to be exciting. :/ Anyway, it's also a little shorter then normal, but I think the next chapter should definitely be more drama filled. c:

* * *

Rachel was invisible to the eyes of Jesse and her mother. Shelby's glared dangerously at Jesse, while Jesse's looked terrified, though kept himself calm with a cool stare. Rachel hadn't expected anything that happened in the past, what? Five minutes? Yet, she was able to pick up the pieces and conclude two things: One, Jesse still probably loved her, and two, Shelby was probably gonna kick his ass.

"I asked you," Shelby got out. "What is going on?" She was now approaching Jesse, and Rachel got uncomfortable when her eyes landed on her. It even made Shelby uneasy when Rachel looked down, avoiding her gaze, instead of defiantly staring back.

"Nothing, Shelby." Jesse shrugged, trying not to make a big deal.

"It didn't look like nothing to me. I come backstage and see you groping my daughter." Her hand shot up to prevent Rachel from objecting. Maybe she didn't want her help, but that wasn't her decision.

"It wasn't like you saw." The last attempt by Jesse was futile.

"I think it was exactly like I saw. Jesse, get out of here. We'll talk tomorrow." Shelby waved her hand dismissively, and he soon exited out the door. It left her and Rachel alone, and after their argument, it filled the air with tension.

"I guess I'm obligated to say thank you." Rachel grumbled as she picked up her bag.

"No, you aren't." Shelby replied. "I would have done it either way. Whatever you think, I still care about you."

"Whatever." She made to move around Shelby, but her mother stopped her.

"I talked to Mr. Schuester about your ditch day. He was pretty surprised to know that you guys were here instead of Breadstix, where your friends said you were."

Rachel groaned, and it could have come across as "Puckerman's an idiot."

It stayed silent for a few awkward moments until Shelby changed the subject. "Why did you agree to go with Jesse? I thought you had a boyfriend." She questioned.

"I do." Rachel shot back defensively. "I thought I'd catch up with Jesse. I haven't talked to him in a while. We talked backstage and then he kissed me."

"You looked like you enjoyed it." Was Shelby's reply.

"I wasn't really in a position to move away." Her voice was sharp with sarcasm.

Shelby frowned. "I'm not judging you, Rachel. I was your age once."

"The age where you had a daughter and gave her away for money."

That shot Shelby right through the heart. It was the hardest thing she had ever done, giving Rachel up. She was nineteen and ready to live on her own, and she thought the money would help her. Despite the doubts that she would give up Rachel, she ended up doing so. Little known to everyone else that it broke her heart.

"Come on." She started toward the entrance, and was surprised that Rachel was following.

"Where are we going?"

"I told Mr. Schue I'd take you back to McKinley."

_Great. Santana is gonna beat the crap out of me. I can only take so much crap in one day._ Her sigh surprised Shelby, and she was still in shock that her daughter had yet to say anything, even when they got in the car.

* * *

It didn't help that the ride was, at most, more than two hours long. Shelby drove carefully, a huge difference from the hour and a half record set by Puck. The awkward tension between the two slowly resulted in silence. Neither of them turned on the radio, or anything that would distract them. _As good a time as any._ Shelby told herself.

"Rachel... is there anything you want to talk about?"

"Not really." Shelby curled her lip. Her daughter obviously wasn't paying attention; her hand was hanging out the window and her eyes were glued to the front.

"I would help you, you know. If you just talk to me." It was a sad effort. If she tried harder last time, maybe it would be easier this time.

"You didn't say that a year ago." Rachel was now looking at her, and Shelby was slightly grateful that she had the road to take her eyes off of her.

"You could have talked to me then, too." Her daughter opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. She closed it and sat back in her chair. Maybe her words meant something to her. Shelby took advantage of the traffic building to observe more. It looked like Rachel was deep in thought, pondering what she said. Then she noticed more.

"Rachel, are you feeling okay? You're really pale and you're sweating." This was now concerning, and it made her feel even worse that she didn't notice before.

Rachel quickly brought a hand to her forward, wiping any remainder of the sweat that grew on her face. This slightly angered Shelby, and she became even more anxious.

"You look like you might pass out." Rachel found the strength to roll her eyes.

"I missed lunch." She responded, waving her hand. Shelby hoped that was all that was wrong.

"You mean you _skipped_ lunch." The woman corrected, cracking a small smile. She hoped it would cause Rachel to do the same, but instead, her daughter looked back at her with such a pained expression that she couldn't help but pull away.

"Same thing." Rachel muttered.

The conversation ended there for her, as Shelby tried to figure out something else to keep her daughter talking. School? Maybe. When ten minutes went by and she figured out what to say, she discovered Rachel sleeping comfortably in the chair. She tipped her head in awe at how innocent and less troubled the girl looked unconscious, and she hoped that girl would return soon.


	13. Chapter 13

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**A/N:** Guys, as much as I love reviews, telling me to make longer chapters and "Update soon" isn't really having any affect on me. I try to write as much as I can, which is at least 1000 words (sometimes more) and I upload a chapter every day. I get bored with projects and stories very easily so I see it as an accomplishment that I am devoted to writing a chapter a day. Please remember this. Thanks. c:

* * *

Rachel grumbled at the hand that was shaking her awake. She was finally asleep, in a car no less, and someone had to come and wake her up? Usually she was an early riser, but being half-asleep made her confused. For a few seconds she was wondering why Shelby was the one waking her, but then she remembered everything.

"Come on, Rachel, we're here." She told her, nudging her once more. The brunette stubbornly pushed her hand away and stretched, getting her eyes to focus and lose the last few traces of sleep.

They were back at McKinley, and Rachel had no idea how she was going to approach her friends. And Mr. Schue. Even though punishment didn't seem that bad, being seen with Shelby was something she wasn't prepared for.

When they entered the school they headed straight for Mr. Schue's office. Through the glass door, she could see the disappointed look on his face. She had seen a lot of that in glee club. Most of the time, directed at her.

"Rachel, you can go to the choir room." He said before she could even step through the door. "I will talk to Shelby about what happened and call you guys in later." While he talked Shelby went to sit in one of the chairs, and looked at Rachel in case she was about to object. The brunette didn't argue, and headed to the choir room.

Quinn, Santana, and Brittany were talking, whereas Puck was staring at the ceiling with his guitar on his lap.

When Brittany looked up, Rachel tensed. "I found Rachel!" She said happily. Her outburst caught the others' attention, and she was prepared for the looks they gave her.

"Where the hell were you?" Santana stood up and approached her, with Brittany and Quinn following slowly. "We were just about to leave when you disappeared. It screwed up everything! Now Mr. Schue knows."

"We were probably gonna get caught anyway." Rachel's shrug was paired with Puck's 'you're-probably-right' look.

"We could have gotten away with it if you-" She poked her chest. "-didn't just walk off. Vocal Adrenaline almost caught us too. At least you were good enough to cause a distraction."

"Come on Santana, leave Rachel alone." Santana's mouth dropped open when Brittany defended Rachel, coming to stand by her side. Quinn soon joined them, yet did not take either side.

"I agree that if Rachel didn't walk off, we wouldn't have this trouble." The latina grinned at the blonde's words. "_But,"_ Santana's grin faded. "It _was_ all your idea in the first place. You have to take at least a little blame."

"Shut up, Q. You were a part of this plan too."

"Hey," Rachel broke them out of their argument. "As amusing as it is to watch you guys pointlessly fight, the fact that the rest of the glee kids aren't here is something I'm curious about."

"Apparently Mr. Schue found out we ditched during glee." Puck came to join them. "He told them about us. When we got back to the choir room he told us to stay."

"We're actually in trouble?" Brittany gasped.

"No Britt, we're fine." Santana tried to calm her. "Knowing Mr. Schue, he'll probably let us go with a warning."

"Except that Miss Corcoran is here too." Puck said from the sound of him texting. Everyone looked shocked, and then turned their eyes to Rachel.

"She was the one who told Mr. Schue." Her response was clear agitation. "Jesse was with Vocal Adrenaline when they found me."

"St. James is back?" Quinn scoffed.

"He brought me to Shelby to talk. I gave her an ear-full, though." Her confidence and pride threatened to spill out. "Then she said she was calling Mr. Schue. I made no move to stop her-she would have done it either way."

Puck suddenly interrupted. "If you babes are done talking, I gotta go meet up with Finn."

"But Mr. Schue told us to stay here." Brittany said innocently.

"Exactly, I told Finn what happened. He was really pissed that we lost his girlfriend," Santana looked slightly guilty at the glare Quinn sent her. "But he said that he'd come with me to listen in on the meeting."

Santana gave in. "That doesn't sound like that bad of a plan."

"Since it's Puck's idea, something ought to go wrong." Rachel said. "But you can go spy if you want. I can say I'm at least a little curious as to what they're saying."

"Hold tight my jewish princess, I'll be back." Puck left his guitar on the chair and ran to meet Finn.

* * *

"I just can't believe how stupid you guys were."

Puck had been listening to Finn rant for about five minutes, and he didn't seem like he was going to finish any time soon.

"Another thing I can't believe is that you dragged my girlfriend along for the ride and then lost her."

"Hey, I didn't lose her. Santana did." Puck pointed out. He lowered his voice as they turned the corner and started toward Mr. Schue's office.

"That's not the point." Now Finn was just trying to be stubborn. "You included her in your stupid prank and now you're all in trouble. I don't even know why I'm helping you."

"'Cause we're bros and you couldn't just ignore me." He smiled. Just as Finn was coming up with a stinging retort, Puck slammed a hand against his mouth. The taller teen blinked a few times until letting up trying to speak and taking his friend's hand away. They cautiously approached the glass door, but did not move in the line of sight.

"Where's Rachel?" Finn whispered.

"The choir room. We'll head there after this." That silenced the teen, and they both sat to listen.

"-tell you." Shelby had just finished saying. "Jesse told me about what happened, and said that Rachel was involved."

"I still can't believe she would go through with that." Finn muttered while Puck rolled his eyes and listened as Mr. Schue spoke.

"I can say that Rachel's been different. Her grades are the same, which I'm thankful for, but she hasn't been as...bright. She hasn't been signing in glee club, but I guess that's because of the sore throat she has."

"Sore throat?" Shelby asked. "She sounded fine when I brought her here. We talked for a bit and she sounded perfectly fine."

"That's... weird." Mr. Schue's words echoed Finn and Puck's thoughts. "Maybe she just got over it. But that's not really important right now. What _is_ important is that my kids were involved in a very immature prank that resulted in them skipping classes. I'll give them their punishment after this. Again, sorry about this Shelby."

"It's alright Will. I might have blamed you if you knew about this," Both of them grinned. "But it looks like this was just teens being teens. I can understand that. I have to deal with Jesse when I get back."

"I thought you were on good terms with Jesse?"

"We were, until this afternoon I saw him kissing with my daughter."

The two instructors were unaware that one of the students in the hallway stood up, anger written all over his face. He turned and started to walk in the direction of the choir room.

"Dude, wait up!" Puck yelled.

Once in the choir room, the four girls looked up curiously to who had just entered. Instead of greeting them, Finn approached Rachel.

"What is this I hear about you kissing Jesse St. James?"

Quinn and Brittany were startled by the outburst, Santana lifted a brow in confusion, and Puck looked like he had just run a marathon. Rachel, though, was hard to read.

"We were in the auditorium and _he_ kissed _me._ It wasn't supposed to happen. He-" She tried to explain further, but Finn cut her off.

"I trusted you. And you do _this_ again."

"Finn, I don't-"

"I don't want to hear any of it." He left the room in fury, and behind was a group of four confused teens and a girl void of any of the usual tears.


	14. Chapter 14

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**A/N:** Not a lot to say right now. Enjoy the chapter. c:

* * *

No one moved from their places even after Finn stomped out of the room, except for Puck. He dragged a hand over his face in exasperation and soon followed. The four girls stayed still, and three pairs of eyes watched Rachel.

The brunette's almost new personality suggested that she might not care or give any reaction to what had just happened. But as Quinn watched her, she realized that the old Rachel Berry was still there, though some people might not see it. Thankfully Brittany took advantage of the situation first and pulled Rachel into a hug, and Quinn could noted the tears in her eyes.

Finn was such an idiot for hurting her again. Maybe Quinn was supposed to feel good that he basically dumped her, but she didn't even get the chance to explain what happened. "Q, watch Rachel." Santana said. "You too, Britt." Brittany was already busy with Rachel so Quinn responded with a nod.

Santana ran out of the room hoping to catch Finn before he got far, but him and Puck were already gone. Probably still in the school though. _He'll probably be in the most obvious place._ As she turned the corner, she patted herself on the back for being right once again. Finn was grabbing his jacket and other items from his locker with Puck trying to talk to him.

She didn't even have to prepare beforehand. Instead she simply walked over and lightly pushed on Puck's chest to move him. She proceeded to tap Finn's shoulder.

"Back off, Puck." He turned around, and his eyes adjusted to the shorter teen. Santana was the last person he expected to see.

"I'm not Puck." Well, obviously. "I _would_ tell you how much of an idiot you are, but you probably already know that."

"So you're defending Rachel now?"

"You could put that way." Santana noted.

"She _cheated_ on me."

"Listen here, Finnocence. When we went to screw with those Carmel kids, Jesse was the last person on our minds. Rachel seemed pretty excited to mess with them. She said that _he_ kissed _her._"

"How do I know she's not lying?" He shot back angrily. Puck was standing behind Santana, ready to help if necessary.

"I thought you were her boyfriend. Aren't you guys supposed to be honest and crap?" She crossed her arms and felt proud of her words when Finn took a minute to think.

"She lied to me when she made out with Puck." Puck looked only slightly guilty when his friend pointed to him.

"So? You lied too. When me and you hooked up you didn't tell her the truth. And I'm _pretty_ sure Rachel isn't interested in St. Jackass. Think about that next time you randomly start screaming at your girlfriend."

When she started to walk away, Finn stopped her. "Where are you going?"

"Choir room. Come on, Puckerman." The latina's commanding presence was enough to make Puck follow her. Alone in the deserted hallway, Finn slammed his locker in frustration and headed to his next class."

* * *

Halfway to the choir room Santana and Puck met Quinn, Brittany, and Rachel. Brittany was walking next to the brunette with Quinn holding her hand tightly. Wait, rewind. Was Quinn actually being civil to Berry for the second time that day? Then she remembered she basically stood up for the girl in her defense, and mentally slapped herself.

"Mr. Schue came and told us to go see Figgins." Quinn informed her when Santana was about to ask. "Something tells me we aren't getting off with a warning."

"Great." Puck groaned. "The only good thing that came out of this was the chance to egg Vocal Adrenaline and the fact that I can't get sued."

Quinn's expression was one of amusement, but soon disappeared when she looked at Rachel again. The girl's tears had dried but she now held onto Quinn and Brittany desperately, and her heart broke when she saw the broken look in the girl's eyes.

Noticing the tense and depressing situation, Santana spoke. "Might as well be responsible this time around." She added a small laugh to lighten the mood, and Brittany was kind enough to smile at her efforts.

When they entered the office, Santana noticed that Mr. Schue and Miss Corcoran took the two chairs in the room, forcing the kids to take the two couches. Not that they were really complaining.

"Miss Corcoran, are you positive that is what happened?" Principal Figgins asked.

Santana felt an urge to slap this woman for ratting them out. She knew better than to start something, though, but grew even more furious when she felt she had the right to look at Rachel with concerned eyes. Get them in trouble then try to make it up to them. Classic.

"Yes, that is how it happened." She confirmed, pulling her eyes away from Rachel's and back to Figgins.

"Then with your consent, William, these five will serve detention for three days. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week. I trust you will supervise them?"

"Me?"

"I can't very well leave a group of students who ditched school to their own devices. I don't trust that they will not do it again."

Santana laughed at how Mr. Schue sounded. It was like he was being punished too. "Fine, I'll do it." He sighed.

"Thank you, Will." He nodded at Shelby's thanks, followed her out. But not before Shelby stopped at Rachel.

"Talk to me when you need to, Rachel." Were her words before she left the room.

The five kids followed and secluded themselves in the hallway and watched the two instructors separate as well-Miss Corcoran out the door and Mr. Schue to the choir room.

Puck looked the most calm. "Detention isn't so bad."

"Of course it isn't, you've had it every other week." Quinn hissed back.

"I once got trapped in detention." Brittany whispered.

"Berry, this your first detention?" Santana asked, though all four pairs of eyes looked over to her sitting quietly next to Quinn.

"Yeah." She said. "It doesn't sound like a big deal. It was worth egging Vocal Adrenaline." The smile the brunette gave made Quinn and Santana breath a sigh of contentment. Brittany hugged Rachel tightly which made her smile grow just a bit more.

Still, in the back of their minds, Quinn and Santana wondered how a bad situation resulted in the girl smiling for the first time in a week. Blowing it off, they said their goodbyes to everyone and headed off to prepare for the punishment that they would make the most of.


	15. Chapter 15

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

******A/N: **There was a slight problem with the last chapter, but I fixed it yesterday so it's fine now. c:

* * *

Detention was a lot slower and uneventful than the glee kids initially thought it was going to be. Surprisingly, Puck arrived first and sat for more than twenty minutes waiting for everyone else. Santana arrived next with Brittany, and Quinn and Rachel finally came before Mr. Schue came. In a show of possible authority, he told them not to mess around, finding it strange that they actually listened.

Puck was absent-mindedly strumming away at his guitar without a care in the world, and as the time went on Brittany started swaying to the tune he was playing. Santana and Rachel, though not voluntarily, sat next to each other and both leaned back in their chairs. Quinn was the only one that looked remotely active as she followed Mr. Schue's hands shuffling papers around.

_I must really be bored._ She told herself. Right now she was staring at Santana and Rachel, wondering if she should be in some state of shock that they were next to each other without a screaming match ensuing. Either from Santana blaming Rachel for getting them detention, or Rachel putting the guilt on her for leaving her back at Carmel.

Brittany and Puck's attention was in the back row, focused on quietly harmonizing to whatever Puck was playing. Country, maybe. Quinn moved her eyes toward the clock as if it would move faster. Mr. Schue hadn't said more than three words since detention started, and the quiet tick of the clock was just about to drive her insane.

_I didn't realize detention could be this frustrating without anyone saying anything._ She cursed her eyes at looking over to Santana and Rachel, and then cursed some more just for talking to herself.

_Maybe Rachel got over what was bothering her._ But the way she acted proved otherwise. It could have been a random act of rebellion-Quinn had those every now and then. Okay, a lot. But Rachel not showing any indication that anything was wrong was driving her insane. More so that she seemed to care.

"If this bell doesn't ring I'm going to take that clock from the wall and smash it." Santana said with Rachel nodding. It made Quinn wonder further when the brunette got in on Santana's good side. Though, since Brittany was trying to form a friendship with Rachel, the latina would be involved too.

"This might teach you a valuable lesson." Puck stopped playing and him and Brittany looked over to Mr. Schue as well as Santana, Rachel, and Quinn looking over. "Things like this aren't just brushed off. What you guys did was wrong, and I don't want you to do it again. Do you understand?" A chorus of 'yes' and 'sures' came from Puck, Brittany and Quinn.

"Santana, do you understand?"

"Yeah, sure thing Mr. Schue." Her response didn't sound genuine.

"Rachel?"

Quinn got curious when the brunette didn't answer right away. Was she daydreaming, or purposely ignoring him? It was probably just stubborn pride. Being called out on something you did wrong wasn't an appealing situation.

"Rachel, do you understand?" He repeated, and by now everyone was waiting for Rachel's reaction.

"Not really Mr. Schue." Quinn glared at Santana who could barely retain her laugh.

"Pardon?"

"Vocal Adrenaline messed with us in the past. I don't see it as a bad thing. We were just leveling out the playing field."

Mr. Schue took a moment, then replied. "That still does not make okay. Getting even doesn't solve any problems. Skipping school to do it makes it even worse."

"It's not like you would care if it was just Puck." Puck shrugged his shoulders in agreement. He, the same as everyone else, could read their teacher like an open book.

"I would care if it was any of you guys." His attempts at defending himself were futile.

"Please, if it was Mercedes or Tina, you'd leave them with a warning. Puck has probably ditched so many times that it doesn't even matter. If I'm ever involved, you have to prove to everyone that I should be punished."

"That's not true-"

"Sure it is." She retorted. "I'm the selfish, ego-filled maniac that creates a hell for everyone in glee club. And you're not helping."

"Rachel-" The bell had to cut him off right before he could respond.

Rachel wasted no time in getting her things together and left the room and everyone in it. Puck was looking at his lap grinning, Brittany just looked confused, Santana was holding her hand to her mouth to keep from laughing, and Quinn was simply shocked. Everyone starting getting up at the same pace, and thoroughly avoided making eye-contact with their teacher.

Puck separated from them in the hall and the Unholy Trinity walked together in a silent communication. Santana finally let out a laugh, and Brittany and Quinn tipped their heads wondering if she had gone crazy. When the latina slowed to a quiet giggle, she said, "I didn't know Berry could dish it out as well as she can take it."

* * *

"Britt, I thought you said Berry was joining us for lunch. Is she back cuddling with Finnocence?" The food on Santana's plate was unrecognizable as she stabbed her fork through it. It even made Quinn a little nervous.

"I don't know where Rachel is." Brittany murmured, making Santana look up. "I saw her in class earlier but after that she disappeared."

"Carmel all over again..." The latina muttered to herself. "I hate to admit it, but it was pretty cool how she went off on Mr. Schue this morning. The glee club needs drama like that to keep things interesting."

"I think Rachel's still mad, though. She's sick, too." Brittany said.

Quinn cut in. "Why do you say that?"

"'Cause she looked really weird when she left class then ran to the bathroom."

Santana and Quinn exchanged a look, and the dark-haired girl tried to find an excuse. "Probably the cafeteria food." She shrugged.

"Where is she now, B?" The blonde asked.

"Still in the bathroom, I think."

"Where are you going?" Santana questioned when Quinn pulled away from the table to stand up.

"I'm going to see where she's at."

"Berry's fine, Q. You've seen her this past week-hard as a rock." Her and Brittany smiled.

"It won't matter if I check in on her then. Be back in a bit." The protest on Santana's lips died when Quinn was out of hearing range. She sighed and stuck her fork into another unlucky piece of food.

* * *

Rachel leaned over the bowl, trying not to spew everything up like she had felt when she left chemistry. Almost like she was going to lose everything right there. She didn't go to the nurse. Old Rachel Berry and New Rachel Berry shared something in common-sickness didn't stop them.

She had been sitting in the bathroom for more than ten minutes now, trying to ignore the dried tears on her face and the fact that Brittany saw her make a run to the bathroom. At least the tall blonde didn't follow her.

A slow creak stopped her dead in her tracks, and she wondered for a bit if she had just jinxed herself. Maybe Brittany _did_ follow her. Then she tried to reason with herself. This was the girls' bathroom, there were plenty of other students in the school to use it.

She felt proud of the self-comfort she was able to give, but something she wasn't expecting was to be brought out of her own thoughts by one Quinn Fabray, holding the door open and looking down at Rachel with wide eyes.


	16. Chapter 16

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

******A/N: **Sorry about not posting a chapter yesterday. I have a lot of family issues going on and it's hard to deal with right now. I hope to be back to posting a chapter a day once again. But I wanted to ask, do you guys like when I switch of POV's? I think Rachel, Quinn, and Santana's are important at this point.

* * *

Rachel was two different people right now. Inside, she was panicking more than when she saw Shelby yesterday afternoon, trying to conjure up some excuse to give for her leaning over the toilet emptying the contents of her stomach. Outside, she was completely still, her internal battle not allowing her to break out of her shock or say anything to Quinn.

"Rachel?" The blonde wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but as she approached more, it dawned on her. She kneeled down next to Rachel in a show of some comfort. "Rachel, what the hell is wrong?"

She lifted the brunette's chin to lock their eyes, because Rachel seemed eager to just abandon the question right there. "Nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing." God, Quinn. Why did she have to come in now? She accepted the hand that helped her to her feet, and she felt relieved to leave the suffocating bathroom stall. But the eyes that stayed glued to her as she fixed her hair didn't improve the awkward situation.

"How did you even know I was in here?" She wet a piece of tissue paper to clean her makeup.

"Brittany told me." Quinn informed her. "I went to lunch and Santana was wondering where you were."

"It's funny how she's worried about me." Rachel scoffed unpleasantly, throwing the tissue in the trash and organizing her things.

"She's been worried about you for the past week. I have been too." Did she really just say that?

"Why are you so concerned about my well-being?"

"Come on, Rachel." The blonde rolled her eyes. "This isn't the Rachel Berry we all know. You can't just decide one day that you're going to completely change and not tell anyone why. And now you're sick, which is very interesting because I remember Rachel Berry saying that she doesn't _get_ sick."

"I don't." Rachel growled back. "It's just a stomach bug."

"Don't throw that crap at me. You look as pale as a ghost-you have for three days. I've just been decent enough to not point it out." The two girls' arms were crossed and their eyes met in a stare down.

"I don't need your decency." The brunette continued to wonder how she had caught Quinn's attention so suddenly.

"And I don't need you to lie." The words stabbed Rachel harder than she intended, and she couldn't help the downcast look her face gave off. Even Quinn noticed.

"You could talk to me, Rachel. I'm trying to be a friend."

She wondered about it for a moment. The two girls had grown closer since the whole baby-thing, though she didn't know if it would evolve into friendship. Maybe an alliance or a mutual respect, but friendship?

"Everything's fine." She let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

Rachel could tell that the blonde wanted to say more, but she kept her mouth shut with the thought. "Okay." The word was resigned and defeated. "Are you okay to come to lunch now?"

"I'm not really hungry." Quinn was ready to reply but Rachel already pushed the door open and left the bathroom, figuring that after getting sick, food was the last thing on the brunette's mind right now. The blonde left the door with at least one thing solved.

* * *

Only Brittany looked up when Quinn returned, seeing as Santana was enjoying stabbing her food a little more than she probably shoulder. The taller blonde nudged Quinn kindly when she sat down, and continued eating her own lunch.

"She was in the bathroom like you said." Brittany nodded at her words.

"I knew Berry was probably gonna hurl. She hasn't been looking too hot-not that she is anyway."

"Has everyone noticed this?" Quinn asked, taking a small bite of her sandwich.

"Everyone in glee club." Brittany said, with Santana nodding.

"Why hasn't anyone said anything?"

Santana grumbled. "Do we really spend time getting into everyones' personal crap? If we see someone's sick we just brush it off. If someone passes out then maybe we should be concerned. Other than that, it's only curiosity that gets us to speak up. Mercedes and Kurt asked me about her two days ago." She shrugged.

"Really?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah. I was like, I'm not friends with her so how should I know? But it got me wondering too. I went and asked Berry if she was pregnant or something," Quinn looked at her strangely before the latina continued. "Morning sickness? I don't know. She just told me she wasn't feeling good. Didn't say anything more than that so I got tired and gave up."

"Maybe she really is just sick." Quinn said. "I talked to her for a bit and she said the same thing. I told her to come to lunch but she said she wasn't hungry. I guess I understand."

"You understand?" Brittany echoed.

Her answer made Quinn curious. "Understand what?"

"Why Rachel's skipping lunch." Even Santana looked up now.

"She told me she wasn't feeling well. I wouldn't want to eat if I was sick." Quinn said.

"She's been skipping every day, though." They both lifted a brow and Quinn gave up trying to eat.

"What the hell are you talking about, Britt?" Santana growled. Sometimes Brittany couldn't just get to the point.

"Just what I said. Rachel hasn't been to lunch in like four days... or maybe a week. I don't know what today is."

"She ditching or something?" The latina asked.

Brittany shrugged as her answer, and it was clear that she didn't know... or wasn't going to say anything else. Though Santana was less affected, you could still catch the look of concern as she took her eyes away from Brittany. Quinn had less to hide and she was clearly worried at the new information. Maybe she would be less anxious if she actually knew where Rachel was going when she left the room.

"Where are you going _now?_" Santana groaned when she saw Quinn stand up once more.

"I'm going to find Rachel. This isn't helping." She was surprised when Brittany jumped up to walk beside her.

"I wanna help find Rachel! She's our friend now." Quinn couldn't help but smile at the innocent girl. More so when Santana, with a huff, came to join them.

* * *

They had walked around the school-it was pretty easy since a lot of people were in lunch-and there was no sign of Rachel Berry. Quinn figured as much, but the part that bothered her is that she could have gone off campus.

The bleachers by the football field was where they stopped looking and finally stopped to take a break and sit down.

"I don't think she's here." Brittany sighed sadly.

Quinn copied her sigh and sat beside her. "Doesn't look like it."

Expecting Santana to join them, the blonde patted the spot beside her, but the latina looked like she was in a rage. Pacing and grunting was exactly how you could describe Santana Lopez in a rage.

"That's not helping Santana." Quinn told her.

"Berry couldn't have just left the school. She's... Berry." She shot back. "It's actually kind of funny how we're out here looking for her instead of the rest of the glee club."

Quinn thought about it. "I don't think they know."

"Of course they don't." The blonde held her hands up, surrendering to the latina's words. "We're the popular girls and we gotta spend our time looking for the diva." She dragged her hand down her face and took the place beside Quinn.

"You're worried about Rachel."

"Shut up, Britt." The tone was light-hearted.

"You like being her friend." Quinn was right when she said the blonde's smile was infectious. "We can find her tomorrow and maybe she'll sing a song in glee."

Santana and Quinn accepted defeat and rested against the bleachers, not at all in a hurry to get to their next class.


	17. Chapter 17

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**********A/N: **I'm having a little trouble making these chapters more detailed, so they may be shorter than usual. Rachel's dads might make an appearance sometime, or they might not. They aren't really necessary at this point so they most likely won't be included in the story. As for point of view, It's sometimes hard to write in Rachel's POV without giving away spoilers or revealing too much, so Quinn and Santana will probably take over the story until we know more. c:

* * *

There wasn't a lot Rachel was thinking about as she walked down the hallway. Quinn found her yesterday, but saying she was sick had pretty much gotten her to leave her alone. The girl actually cared to come and find her. And to worry about her. Just that simple fact made her smile.

Detention was one thing she wasn't that worried about. Maybe it would be more exciting today. Maybe they could throw a party when Mr. Schue left the room. With her mind coming up with random ideas, she didn't notice the voice calling her from behind until Finn came up beside her.

"Hey, Rach." How long had he been calling her?

They were both content to walk in silence for a few seconds, Rachel not giving any indication that she was listening while Finn was stumbling over words. Ultimately, the tall teen came to stand in front of her with his head down.

"Look, I'm sorry." That got Rachel to look up. He was apologizing? Wait... what was he even doing here? School hadn't started; detention was being held beforehand and unless you had detention or had to talk to a teacher, you couldn't get in.

"What are you doing here?"

"Santana talked to me, a couple days ago. More like yelled, actually." He said. "I was upset and couldn't get it together. She told me that it wasn't your fault and I feel bad for not listening to your side of the story."

"He kissed me, Finn." Her voice was calm and even yielded some emotion. It was only a simple mistake.

"Did you kiss him back?" She wondered if it was an accusation.

"...Yes." Finn's eyes widened. "But it didn't mean anything. We were backstage and he kissed me. I couldn't exactly push him off. Shelby came and busted him for it."

He looked down before replying. "Your mom's back at Carmel?"

"I would prefer you not call her my mom. She never was my mom." Finn looked slightly guilty. "Yes, Shelby's at Carmel co-directing Vocal Adrenaline with Jesse."

"Oh."

Rachel wasn't comfortable with the quiet, and how Finn was walking beside her without any explanation. "I'm sorry for blowing up at you." He said.

"I accept your apology." And she did. She didn't want anyone hating her. "But still, what are you doing here?"

Finn cleared his throat. "I texted Santana the other day asking what happened with you guys. When she said detention, I thought I'd be able to talk to you. Maybe keep you company in there." His smile gave her the same effect as Brittany, and she couldn't help but blush and give a small smile in return.

* * *

"I see that Frankenteen is back." Santana jeered when Rachel walked in with Finn's arm hanging over her shoulder.

"It's been like two days." Quinn said from her seat. Today she was sitting next to Puck in the back and Brittany was next to Santana. They looked restless.

"Where's Mr. Schue?" Rachel sat down next to Santana and Finn joined her.

"He came in and then left." Puck answered. "He told us to behave and not do anything stupid. As if." He laughed. "But with the show you put on yesterday I bet he's still pissed."

"What happened yesterday?" Finn looked at his girlfriend.

Santana beat Rachel to it. "Berry was in total psycho mode. She told off Mr. Schue and walked off like a pro." Puck joined in with laughing at the memory.

"Really, Rach?" He was looking at her again.

"Yeah." She responded. "He was trying to tell us that what we did was wrong and all that. I got mad and it turned into a short screaming match."

"An awesome screaming match." Puck put in.

"I think you hurt his feelings." Santana chuckled. "He didn't even say much to us when he came in. It's kinda funny how he thinks we'll just sit and be good."

Rachel felt a prickle of pride. Hurting someone else wasn't a daily goal of her's, but it felt good to get her thoughts through to someone else. Especially to someone who had treated her unfairly for two years. "We can make the best of it." Everyone looked at Rachel.

"What are you thinking about, Berry?" The latina asked, and Quinn nodded with her.

"My dads are away for a few weeks. We could hang out at my house." Finn tipped his head, with the rest of the kids looking at each other. Everyone seemed to be waiting for someone to respond, and Santana took that place.

"Sure, Berry." Their eyes turned to her. "Berry's cool now. We can hang at her house for a bit, all the glee kids."

"I can crack open the liquor cabinet." Puck smirked.

"Sounds like a plan." Rachel high-fived Puck. She could let loose for one night-and it would be fun. Her dads were on business trips at usually the best times, they didn't need to know about the detention and they could have a party without anyone knowing.

It looked like the roles were suddenly switched, with Quinn and Santana looking at each other in both interest and possibly worry. What could go wrong at another Rachel Berry House Party? Puck getting drunk wasn't much of a concern. That was a normal thing for him. But now that Rachel was freely accepting that they could drink, it was safe to say that she would be as well.

Rachel and Puck had no such concerns at the moment. They were talking over the details with Finn listening. Chances are the tall teen wouldn't drink; he was usually the designated driver. Figuring that the rest of the glee kids would come, Kurt probably wouldn't drink either. It was funny how they could tell these things about their friends.

"So tomorrow, seven." Puck finalized. "If everyone is here later today when Mr. Schue isn't around, we'll let them know."

"I'll send the message to everyone too." Santana said.

"Are you excited, Rach?" Finn asked. Quinn and Santana hoped he would make sure everything went okay.

"Yeah, Finn. It'll be fun." She gave a half-hearted smile. All the glee kids together for a party. They should do this every year. And this would be the second time Rachel would be drinking. Hey, at least she had friends, and like Quinn and Santana thought, there would most likely be some of them who didn't touch alcohol.

"Now I actually have something to look forward to." Puck said. "I had nothing planned this weekend. That's unheard of for the Puckster." He scowled.

"As long as Mr. Schue knows nothing we can do it." Rachel leaned back into Finn's shoulder.

Quinn was pretty hesitant by this point but her and Santana had since relaxed about helping with the planning. They both were looking forward to the weekend. The glee kids at a party at Rachel's house with alcohol. Yeah, what could go wrong?


	18. Chapter 18

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**********A/N: **First of all, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a couple days. I've been busy and low on muse. BUT, I forced myself up to write this chapter. It isn't the party chapter (sorry!) because I'm saving that for chapter 19. The party will be important, and you'll see why soon! I also thought about this today, and I thought I would point out what is canon. Everything seasons 1-2 happened, same with Quinn joining the Skanks in the first couple episodes of season 3, but instead of seeing Shelby which makes Quinn join glee again just to get Beth back never happens. You could say that Quinn figured out on her own that it was an act and she was tired of pretending. I hope that clears that up. c:

* * *

The atmosphere was lazy and no one seemed to be in any rush to strike up a conversation when they walked into the choir room for glee. Mr. Schue had his eyes glued to his sheet music, and the kids were more than willing to just hang out for as long as it lasted.

Brittany was the only one that was eager, proof being that she ran of to Rachel and pulled her over to sit next to her. Rachel gave her a funny look, but didn't say anything.

Santana could say she was at least a little excited, but Mr. Schue being there didn't give her the chance to tell them about what was going down that night. Oh well-she just texted them, so she would fill in the details afterwards.

"Come on, San." Brittany patted the seat beside her. Santana fixed her hair and joined her, sneaking a glance at Rachel. She lifted her brow when the brunette looked at her questioningly, but she didn't pull away.

"Alright." Mr. Schue clapped his hands together, placing the rest of the sheet music on the piano. He turned around, and Santana could say that it was funny how he looked at Rachel. "I hope everyone understands now that we're not going to be bothering Vocal Adrenaline anymore." Santana smirked at Rachel rolling her eyes.

"They got what was coming to them." It was weird but somewhat encouraging that Mercedes was agreeing with them.

"True." Kurt said. "Though I'm not a pranking type, I have to say that they did deserve it."

"Guys, that's enough. What happened to being the bigger person?"

"That only lasts so long." Artie put in. "We've been messed with so many times that's it's not really easy to just ignore it."

"Nothing encouraged you to do this." Mr. Schue pointed out. "We haven't had any problems with Vocal Adrenaline in a while. And even if they did something to provoke you, stooping to their level won't help."

"Alright, stop." Everyone looked up at Rachel, who was now standing, and Mr. Schue tried to interrupt her. "Rachel-"

"No way are we taking blame. We ignored everything they did to us for too long."

Artie put his hand up. "Preach."

"They knew what was coming. We're even now. We can't always be the bigger person, unfortunately." She sat back down.

"How did it solve anything?" Mr. Schue shot back.

"It felt pretty damn good getting back at them." Santana grinned.

"I would have loved to see their faces." Mercedes high-fived Tina. "Good job Rachel."

Rachel smiled proudly, accepting her words, whereas Santana protested. "It was _my_ idea, Wheezy. Berry just got herself lost." She scoffed.

"We are done talking about this." Mr. Schue said. He looked either angry or constipated-Santana couldn't tell. "I don't want to hear about this ever happening again. Are we clear?" There were several mutters of agreement before he was satisfied. "Okay then. Onto today's lesson..."

* * *

Quinn didn't bother adding onto the conversation. To be truthful, it was pretty strange how the others encouraged Rachel instead of knocking her down a peg or two. Mr. Schue was outnumbered.

She almost jumped at the sudden vibration of her phone in her pocket and, checking first to make sure Mr. Schue wasn't watching, she flipped it open and clicked "read" to view the most recent text message.

_From: Santana L._

_To: Quinn F._

_Berry's place tonight, 7. Me and Puck got the alcohol covered._

Other quiet notifications and ringtones went off around them, signaling that Santana had sent the mass message to everyone else in the room. They were pretty discreet in reading them, since Mr. Schue didn't turn around until he finished the lesson. Just some ideas for Sectionals.

"We'll talk more about our setlist on Monday. Have a good weekend." The teacher shook his head, frustrated, going back to his work.

Santana followed everyone out, hearing Mercedes talking to Rachel.

"I'll be there. I got nothing planned." Rachel nodded and Kurt and Blaine both said so as well. Kurt landed a pat on her back before walking down the hall with his boyfriend. Now that Rachel was walking away, Santana caught up to her.

"Hey Berry."

"Santana." Rachel said, without looking at her.

"So where did this party idea come from?" She asked.

"I was bored, my house is empty, so why not? I want to just let loose for a change."

"Rachel Berry wanting to 'let loose'?" She asked. "Wow. That's really weird. But I'm kinda liking the new Berry. I like parties, anyway."

"Are you drinking?" Rachel asked.

"Of course." She scoffed. "Alcohol is only half the party. I have to show up to make it official."

"I think I'll have a couple drinks."

"Seriously?"

"Yup." Was this really a good idea? Rachel having a party is cool. _I mean, it's about time the girl tried to have fun._ But Rachel Berry and alcohol didn't seem like a good mix. It didn't go too well last time, and it was only her first time then. But hey, she could probably take her drink away and she wouldn't notice.

"Guess that's cool." The latina shrugged. "You comin' to lunch?" She suddenly remembered her skipping the past couple days, and was prepared for her reply.

"Not hungry."

"Your face says otherwise." Santana muttered, grabbing the brunette's arm and starting toward the cafeteria. "Seriously Santana, I'm not hungry."

"I'm anything but stupid, Rachel. You will sit there and I will _feed_ you if I have to." No matter how badass the "new" Rachel was, a glare from Santana herself was enough to end the conversation.

* * *

Brittany stood up almost instantly after entering and enveloped Rachel in a tight hug she could not escape. Even though Santana was not a hugger, she admired Brittany's show of affections. She laughed. "Alright Britt, let the midget breath."

The girl took a deep breath at her release, and sat down next to the tall blonde. The brunette seemed to be denying her hunger, but Brittany insisted she ate. Santana took the opportunity to talk to Quinn.

"What's got you so worked up about the party?" The blonde responded.

"Rachel said she'd be drinking."

Quinn paused, looking down at her food in thought. It was weird, but convenient that the two girls often had the same thoughts and concerns. "I take it you're worried about things going wrong?"

"Usually I'm not worried about Berry." The latina defended herself. "_But,_ I'm not exactly eager to see the side-effects of Rachel Berry House Party 2.0."

They both thought the same thing, and would have shared it with Brittany if she was not talking to Rachel, or if she didn't have the attention span of a fish.

"We gotta watch her." Quinn said, and Santana groaned.

"I didn't think I'd spend my Friday night babysitting Rachel Berry."

"Calm down, we're not babysitting. We're going to be passive-observers. We'll have fun too, and everything will go smoothly."

Santana laughed. "If by smoothly you mean a repeat of what happened last year, than this party's gonna be a blast."


	19. Chapter 19

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**********A/N: **Party chapter. Fun times ahead. :D

* * *

It was later than expected when everyone decided to show up, the clock ticking past 8:00 when Mercedes walked through the door. Following her was Tina and Mike, then Artie and Sam behind them. Finn came in soon after with Kurt and Blaine. Last was Puck, who pretty much tied the party together when he went off to the liquor cabinet.

Santana was sitting next to Rachel on one of the stools. With Brittany and Quinn, she came early. Probably the first thing Santana was early for, Quinn figured.

"Are you ready to party hard, my little jew?" Puck approached Rachel with two drinks in hand.

"Been ready for an hour." Rachel snatched the drink out of his hand and finished it in a few gulps. She smirked and left him standing there smiling, whereas Quinn was giving him "the look."

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Was that really necessary?" She chided.

"Sure it was." He took a sip of his own drink. "You girls get crazy when drunk. Though I have to admit, it's entertaining." With a laugh, he walked off, leaving Quinn sighing, Santana groaning, and Brittany as clueless as ever.

* * *

Quinn kept Rachel in her sight, and she almost yelled at herself for looking like a creeper. But no one would judge her-Santana knew why and the rest of the glee kids were too busy dancing to notice. It was to her amazement that Rachel was still acting relatively _normal_, considering that she was drinking.

She took some time to herself to dance with Puck and Brittany, even sparing a drink or two.

"Angry drunk incoming." Puck whistled to her, and she had to smile at both his comments and Brittany's dancing. She was rocking the stage, until she suddenly stopped and ran up to Blaine. Quinn tipped her head, curious as the blonde whispered in his ear, but figured it wasn't something bad because Blaine just smiled and nodded.

The current music slowed to a stop and another fast-paced song started to play. She had to think for a minute, but the song suddenly came to her, and she knew it before it came out of his mouth.

_Party rock_

_Yeah_

_Whoa!_

_Let's go!_

_Party rock is in the house tonight_

_Everybody just have a good time (yeah)_

_And we gonna make you lose your mind (whoa!)_

_Everybody just have a good time (clap!)_

By now everyone was dancing around-Mercedes and Kurt joining Blaine on stage.

_Party rock is in the house tonight (oh)_

_Everybody just have a good time (I can feel it baby!)_

_And we gonna make you lose your mind (yeah)_

_We just wanna see you... shake that!_

Quinn laughed at Puck's dance moves, because... he didn't have any. Now the drinks were going to his head, and she found it hilarious.

_In the club party rock, lookin' for your girl,_

_She on my jock (huh) non-stop when we're in the spot_

_Booty move the weight like she owns the block_

_Where I drank I gots to know_

_Tight jeans, tattoos cause I'm rock and roll_

_Half black half white, domino_

_Gain the money Oprah Doe!_

_Yo!_

_I'm running through these hoes like Drano_

_I got that devilish flow rock and roll no halo_

_We party rock yeah! that's the crew that I'm repping_

_On a rise to the top no lead in our Zeppelin_

_Hey!_

Some joined in singing.

_Party rock is in the house tonight (whoa)_

_Everybody just have a good time (yeah)_

_And we gonna make you lose your mind_

_Everybody just have a good time_

_Let's go_

_Party rock is in the house tonight_

_Everybody just have a good time (I can feel it baby!)_

_And we gonna make you lose your mind_

_We just wanna see you... shake that!_

_Every day I'm shuffling_

_Shuffling shuffling_

_Step up fast and be the first girl to make me throw this cash_

_We get money, don't be mad, now stop – hating's bad_

The boys sang with the girls in the background.

_One more shot for us_

_(Another round)_

_Please fill up my cup_

_(Don't mess around)_

_We just wanna see_

_(You shake it now)_

_Now you home with me_

_(You're naked now)_

_Party rock is in the house tonight (put your hands up!)_

_Everybody just have a good time (put your hands up!)_

_And we gonna make you lose your mind (put your hands up!)_

_Everybody just have a good good good time_

_Oh! Oh! (Put your hands up)_

_Oh! Oh! (Time to fill it now!)_

_Oh! Oh! (Put your hands up)_

_Oh! Oh! (Put your hands up)_

_Shake that!_

_Every day I'm shuf-f-f-ling_

_Put your put your_

_Put your put your (yeah yeah)_

_Put your put your (whoa!)_

_Put your put your_

_Put your hands up_

_Your hands up_

_Put your hands up_

Artie wrapped it up.

_Every day I'm shuffling_

Everyone was yelling and cheering now, and Quinn started to see the effects of a party. Mercedes hugged Tina who was laughing uncontrollably, Puck was still dancing strangely, which Finn noticed as well. But the weirdest thing of all is that Santana was still sitting in the same spot. Quinn walked over and sat beside her.

"I'm surprised you're not drinking."

"You said we had to watch the midget. Can't do that while I'm drunk." Santana shrugged angrily.

"You can have a drink or two. I'm not stopping you." Quinn had a couple drinks and still managed to watch Rachel.

"I'm good." Santana Lopez ignoring a chance to drink? Wow. Either her mind was playing tricks on her, or the alcohol was getting to her. Either one.

Quinn was about to respond when Rachel stood up on the stage. Well, maybe stumbling a little. Instead of the ugly grandma outfit she had on last year, this time she wore a tight green T-shirt with black shorts. Pretty normal clothes... for everyone but Rachel Berry.

"Time for spin the bottle!" Everyone hollered and started to form a circle to start. The blonde looked at Santana.

"Déjà vu, huh?" She took a small sip of water. "You going?" Her finger pointed to the circle that was formed.

"Wanna come with?"

"You need me to hold your hand?" Santana asked, but it was light and teasing. They walked over to their friends and stood behind, only observing. Tina was starting.

Spinning the bottle, it handed on Artie. Tina blinked and smiled. She and Artie had remained friends since dating two years ago. She stood up and gave him a small peck on the lips, and that was good enough for him.

Since Artie couldn't bend down, Sam spun for him, and it slowed to a stop on Brittany. The tall blonde laughed and gave Artie a kiss that lasted for about 3 seconds.

Quinn watched Santana roll her eyes, and she could understand her annoyance. If she had a boyfriend she wouldn't be comfortable with him kissing other people-drunk or not. Still, it was pretty funny the way Santana winced when Brittany spun the bottle and it landed on Rachel.

Brittany squealed with delight and pulled Rachel in for a deep kiss. Seconds dragged on before she pulled away, looking disappointed. "I thought it would taste like berries." She said sadly, and Santana awkwardly patted her shoulder.

Slightly reluctant, Rachel held the bottle, and then spun it quickly. It spun three to four times before coming to a slow stop.

_Figures._ Quinn thought, and couldn't help but look at Finn's proud yet cheesy smile. Leaning over he held Rachel's neck and pulled her into a gentle kiss and pulled back moments later when the cheering had slowed.

The game was soon forgotten and the music started once more, yet Rachel and Finn still sat with each other, and it made Quinn increasingly anxious when the brunette swallowed another drink. How many was that now?

She then focused on herself, and realized that she was sweating from dancing and her makeup was probably smeared. "San, watch Rachel. I'm going to the bathroom. Be back in five." Santana lifted her hand in response, showing she had heard.

Quinn was in the bathroom for less than 3 minutes cleaning her face and re-applying her makeup before coming back. And when she did Santana was no longer sitting, but standing with her eyes searching the small crowd. She noticed too that Rachel wasn't in the group of glee kids. Neither was Finn. Finn wouldn't do anything stupid, and he didn't drink anyway. But that still didn't stop her from asking.

"San, where is Rachel?"

When the latina turned around, and Quinn recognized that look of guilt.

"Shit."


	20. Chapter 20

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**********A/N: **Second part of the party. This is somewhat clearing up questions that people are asking. I'm also thinking about future stories that I might want to start once this one is finished. Some of the ideas include a Glee club trip (hotel or camping), Rachel joining the Cheerios, or Rachel joining Vocal Adrenaline. Let me know what you guys think!

* * *

"I go to the bathroom for five minutes and you manage to lose Rachel a _second_ time!"

_Loopy Quinn. I hope that's the alcohol._ "It's _not_ a big deal." Maybe if she thought that, it would turn out to be true. "Berry wouldn't leave the house and Finnocence is probably with her. He didn't drink."

"Like that's the issue." Quinn sarcastically answered.

"I thought we were worried Rachel was gonna stab him or something."

"God, Santana." She groaned. "Where's Brittany?"

"Over there with Mercedes and Tina." She pointed to where Brittany was talking to the two girls, who burst out laughing afterwards.

"Okay, come on." The blonde snatched up Santana's wrist and dragged her down the hall. It might have been a mad move to grab the feisty latina, but she was distracted as well. They were soon checking in rooms to see if there was any sign of a certain brunette.

While Quinn was up ahead checking another room, Santana slowly opened the door to another and almost shielded her eyes against the sight of Finchel making out. She called out to Quinn quite loudly, and the blonde joined her in seconds, with a similar expression.

Both Rachel and Finn were laying propped up against the headboard-with their clothes on, thankfully-and they didn't even seem to notice the two girls standing in the doorway.

Quinn looked like she was about to say something, but Santana had already reached the bed, got a hold of Rachel's arm, and pretty much yanked her off the bed. Finn looked up dazed.

"Santana? What are you doing in here?"

The latina was busy helping Rachel up after she fell to the floor from yanking too hard, so Quinn stepped in. "We were looking for Rachel. Then we had to walk in and see you guys making out." Santana winced as well.

"You guys never noticed Rachel before." He looked pointedly to where Santana was trying to get the brunette to stand. "I didn't think you were friends."

"Doesn't matter now, does it?" Santana growled back and Rachel finally stood on wobbly legs. In an attempt to help, Quinn grabbed her around the waist, hoping that she was still able to walk. With a snort, they all left the room, leaving Finn equally clueless.

* * *

"At least try to help us, Berry." Santana grumbled as they approached Rachel's bedroom. They didn't even bother turning on the light-the moonlight that came through the window was enough for now. Ungraciously dumping the brunette on the bed, Santana tried to figure out a plan. Oh, who was she kidding? She was the usually one passing out at these kind of events. She had no idea.

"Q, I'm gonna go check on Britt." She decided that she might as well make sure her girlfriend wasn't passing out as well.

"You're seriously gonna leave me to deal with this?" Quinn pointed to Rachel who was holding her head and lifting herself to sit on the edge of the bed.

"I have no idea what to do! I'm usually play Berry's role when this happens. I'll be back in like ten minutes." Quinn would have said more if Santana hadn't left the room.

* * *

Rachel was left laying on the bed while Quinn rummaged through the girl's closet, looking for something that would probably be a lot more comfortable to wear instead of the tight clothing she had on now.

Pulling out a less-revealing T-shirt with shorts, the blonde walked to the bed, where Rachel was now leaning against the backboard. She was holding her head once more, which reminded Quinn just how much alcohol Rachel could have before hitting her limit.

"Jeez, Rachel, how much did you drink?"

"F...four... five?" She shrugged.

"God." Rachel allowed her to pull her hair down, because it was clear that she really wasn't aware of anything right now. When her dark hair fell down onto her shoulders, Quinn caught the red hair in between her fingers, and was able to pull it out.

_Extensions?_ She questioned herself. She searched Rachel's hair and pulled out the other hair-pieces. The blonde owned similar ones and they were sometimes bothersome to wear.

"Quinn... what are you doing with those?"

"Putting them over here." She set them on Rachel's dresser.

"I wanted... to wear them." Her reply was slurred.

"Why?"

Rachel blinked and shrugged. "I like them."

Quinn accepted the answer, since Rachel seemed content to have a pointless conversation. She gave the brunette the clothes and turned around until she had changed. This looked more similar to the Rachel Berry she-and the rest of New Directions-were used to.

"I liked the other clothes." Rachel grumbled, and Quinn had to laugh at her child-like protest.

"These are what you always wore, Rach." She reminded her and threw the other clothes in the laundry basket.

"No one liked those."

Quinn paused. It was a simple comment, yet she had to let the words sink in. Rachel was drunk, tired, and probably wouldn't remember this conversation in the morning. Yet she remembered her mother telling her once that people were sometimes brutally honest in this kind of situation.

She decided to play dumb so she would continue. "Who?"

"Glee club. The people in school. I dunno." She slurred. "I came back with my new clothes and they liked them."

_Keep her going, Q._ She could hear Santana's voice in her head. Innocently tipping her head, Quinn replied. "I guess that makes sense." She chose another question. "Why did you come with us to egg Vocal Adrenaline?"

"You asked me to." It was like the simplest answer.

"I know I did, but why did you come with?"

"When was the last time you talked to me?"

It finally clicked in her head, even if Rachel wasn't being the most obvious. Everyone kept their secrets, but it was just luck that Quinn was here to listen to the brunette being honest with not only her, but with herself.

"It was fun, though." Quinn finished and Rachel nodded slowly.

"My mom didn't like it." She mumbled. The girl was slowly leaning back, her head finally planted on the pillow. Quinn would have responded if Rachel didn't fall asleep.

She thought about what Rachel told her, as if they were puzzle pieces to put together. The girl's face was drained of life, and she was a lot thinner, she noticed.

She knew that Rachel didn't exactly have the best relationship with her mom. The thing she knew when Rachel returned to McKinley the day they egged Vocal Adrenaline was that she was yelled at by Shelby and the girl didn't look happy. She looked _depressed_, even. After thinking about it, the final piece fit together.

_Rachel changed her clothes because people didn't like them._ Quinn remembered doing the same thing a few times in Freshman year. Her, Santana and Brittany started talking to her after she changed.

_She slushied Karofsky and knew Santana was watching._

_She agreed to go to Carmel. No doubt that getting in trouble with Vocal Adrenaline would catch someone's attention._

It was her mom. Rachel wasn't aware that Shelby was working at Carmel once again, but it made sense the way she came back.

Rachel got the attention she was craving-even if it wasn't good-and Shelby yelled at her.

Attention. She got attention. Rachel never got anywhere with her happy, confident attitude, so she changed and people started noticing.

The incident with Vocal Adrenaline didn't improve the situation, and Quinn suddenly remembered Brittany's words when she told them Rachel had been skipping lunch.

_"She's been skipping every day, though."_ It sounded obvious.

The realization dawned on her. _Acting out didn't help, so she's not eating. Brittany noticed, so more people will too._

She asked herself the question that made her uncertain. _How far is she willing to go?_


	21. Chapter 21

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**********A/N: **I lost my muse for a couple days so I wasn't really in any mood to write. Still, I got myself to get up and write this chapter. A note is that the red streaks in Rachel's hair _are_ extensions. That was what Quinn pulled out of Rachel's hair in the previous chapter. :3

* * *

School was less eventful than Quinn would have guessed-starting with the fact that none of glee kids could be found. Usually they were grouped in the hallway talking together, but this time, no one was there. Kurt and Tina's lockers were normal "hangouts" and they weren't there either.

The only other party glee had was last year, and that resulted in them complaining to each other about their hangovers. It was like a normal thing for them.

It was kind of nice that people got out of her way, because she was sure that otherwise, she would be running into people with how distracted she was right now. It's not like she was that curious; the glee kids were probably in the choir room waiting to start glee. But there was something she had to do first.

Hard to believe, yes, but Quinn was currently knocking on the glass door of Ms. Pillsbury's office. The redhead was currently fixing the tape and pencils on her desk, and smiled in approval when the blonde walked through the door.

"Hello, Quinn."

"Hi, Ms. Pillsbury."

"What can I do for you today?" The counselor asked while folding her hands. "Is it relationship troubles?"

"No, it's not that." Quinn sat down awkwardly, still trying to find some way to say what she needed to without it sounding strange. "It's...um... it's Rachel."

"I can't help you with any practical jokes, Quinn. I know you and Rachel have your differences, but-"

"That's not it." She replied before she finished speaking. The words rolled around in her head, and she knew very well that Ms. Pillsbury was curiously watching her.

"Quinn, you know you can talk to me. Everything said in this office is private." Her friendly encouragement gave her confidence.

"I know that you aren't really allowed to say anything about other students, but I was wondering if Rachel has talked to you at all in the past week."

"Hmm... no, Rachel hasn't come to me. I noticed she's been dressing and acting differently, though. Is there a need for concern?" She asked.

"I don't really know..." The blonde responded. "But I was talking more about her being sick; like, having problems or something."

"Is there something you're leaving out? Something I should know about?" Quinn bit her tongue. Should she say more, or just leave it at that? If Rachel didn't talk to her in the last week, maybe she really didn't know anything. But the suspicion remained.

"I walked to lunch last week and Brittany told me and Santana that Rachel was skipping lunch. She said she was in the bathroom, so I went to find her. When I walked in, it looked like she was sick. Like... puking sick."

Ms. Pillsbury paused, and then spoke again. "I had a similar experience two years ago."

"You were puking in the girls' bathroom?" She raised a brow in confusion.

"No," she sighed. "I walked into the bathroom and found Rachel trying to puke her guts out. Very messy affair."

"You mean this isn't the first time?" Quinn raised her hands, disbelieving.

The redhead looked up to see out her glass doors, and then looked back at Quinn. "Rachel told me that she had bulimia a while back."

The blonde stopped and found that this piece of information didn't offer any comfort or assurance, and she found herself wanting to ask more.

"She told you that?"

"She did." The counselor said. "I really shouldn't be saying any of this, though. I promised students that everything said in here is kept private."

"I'm only trying to help Rachel." Quinn was surprised at how defensive she sounded, but she wasn't going to scold herself. "I'm worried and Mr. Schuester isn't doing anything to help."

"Now, Quinn, I don't want you to get too worked up about this." She responded. "There is a chance that Rachel is having a problem, but we can't be sure right now. But if you want, I can see if she'd be willing to talk to me this week. Is that alright with you?"

The blonde sighed. "I guess that's the best you can do right now." She stood up and gave a slightly grateful smile to the woman. "Thanks, Ms. Pillsbury."

"You can come in if you need to talk to me again." With that, Quinn closed the door.

* * *

Quinn was not a girl to constantly skip class. That was more Puck and Santana's thing. But for one reason or another, she couldn't bring herself to care about class. Maybe it was because of damn Rachel Berry who was unknowingly stirring up tension between the glee kids, or because the information Ms. Pillsbury wasn't enough to actually come up with any type of explanation.

Maybe she should just stay quiet and watch from afar. As much as Santana would try to deny it, she liked being friends with Rachel and Quinn was sure that the latina would agree if she told her to keep an eye out. Or, it was a possibility that she could just talk to Rachel. She was walking down the hall anyway...

Wait. She just turned the corner and entered the girls' bathroom. Even if she was just using the bathroom for the same reason everyone else did, it still made Quinn uneasy every time she watched the girl open and close the door.

By now she had learned to trust her instinct instead of common sense, because let's face it-she wasn't very good when it came to common sense. You could ask Puck, and he would talk about how she had given him her virginity. She growled in frustration and finally relented.

The bathroom was empty when she walked in, besides the one closed stall which she had to assume Rachel was using. It gave her some relief and she took the opportunity to fix and re-apply her makeup. Once she finished she put the eyeliner back into her bag and took another look around, ultimately spotting Rachel's bag hanging off the counter.

It wasn't necessarily the bag that she was interested in, but more like the contents of the bag. Especially the specific content that was innocently sitting on the counter.

Of course, she chose a bad moment to inspect the small box, because her small gasp was released in unison to Rachel walking out of the stall.

She was going to deny it. Quinn knew that much. Rachel would deny that she knew anything about it, and it would leave her with nothing to go off of. Picking up all of her defiance, she held the box in front of the brunette's face.

"Laxatives?" She couldn't keep the shock out of her voice if she tried. She knew Rachel might of had a problem, but this wasn't something she could ignore.

As soon as Rachel registered the blonde in her mind, her hand snatched the box out of her hand and was now stuffing it in her bag as quickly as she could. "Back off, Quinn."

"Rachel, what the hell are you doing with laxatives?"

"None of your damn business!" Even the child-like response held anger, and Quinn didn't have time to respond when Rachel pushed past her and exited the bathroom.

_I'm sorry, Rachel._ Quinn thought. _You might hate me for this, but it's for your own good._

She set off for the choir room, dialing Shelby's number in the process.


	22. Chapter 22

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**********A/N: **Again, I've been busy with several things. I'm not exactly sure if I'll be able to continue with the every day uploading, but I can assure you that I am planning on finishing this story. It's a goal of mine to finish before school starts and possibly start a new fanfic, so my fingers are crossed.

* * *

The blonde's steps became quiet as she slowed and finally stopped outside the choir room. Her hands clutched the phone, as if someone could take it away from her. She carefully stuck her head in the room, and was relieved when she found it empty. Rachel wasn't in here, and neither were any of the other glee kids. Hopefully Mr. Schue wasn't either.

Slipping through the doorway, she remained silent even though she was now out of hearing range of all the other students. The ringing on the opposing end of the line was probably as quiet to them as it was to Quinn.

On the third ring, she began to get anxious. Sitting around and waiting for something else to happen wasn't an option anymore. If it ever was, she wasn't going to take advantage of it. She might have been a bitch to Rachel, but she wasn't going to stand by and watch her hurt herself.

Fourth ring, and now Quinn was panicked. What if Rachel ditched school? What if she was back in the bathroom popping laxatives in her mouth? Where were Santana and Brittany? Crap, she forgot to tell them. If this didn't work, she'd have to go to them and explain the whole thing, and then maybe-

"Hello?"

Her breath caught, and she tried to prepare herself for how this conversation was going to be played out. "Hi, Shelby."

"Quinn?" Her response was to be expected. "This is a surprise. Aren't you supposed to be in class? Don't tell me you're ditching."

"I'm not ditching. I got ten minutes left. I'm calling about Rachel."

"Rachel?" Shelby's voice hardened. "I haven't heard anything from her since the day you guys came to Carmel."

"That's not what's important." Quinn told her.

"What's going on?" The woman asked, clearly noticing the girl's frantic tone. "Is Rachel okay? Has something happened?"

"Yes, I mean, no. Yes, something's happened, and no, Rachel is not okay." She breathed.

"Quinn, I need you to explain."

"Rachel's been acting different."

"I picked that up." Shelby commented.

"She's trying to get attention." She said, and before Shelby could say anything, she continued. "Dressing differently because people didn't like how she looked, and acting differently because people don't like her..."

"That's hardly a reason to act out." The woman responded. It wasn't harsh, but more sympathetic.

"No one has bothered her since she changed. Me, Santana and Brittany are watching her, but it's hard. Rachel talked about you, too."

"Me?" Shelby echoed.

"She said you didn't like the way she was acting. Shelby, she never really fit in with us, and never seemed to care. I know that she wanted you to be her mom, though."

Shelby was silent on the other line.

"I thought about it. It was Santana's idea to go to Carmel after we saw how Rachel changed. When we told her, she agreed right away." It seemed kind of weird to be talking about the incident with the very woman who could punish them for it. "Rachel disappeared when me and San were talking on the phone. She-"

"Quinn, I need you to slow down. I want to find out what's wrong, but I need you to tell me what you mean."

She sighed, checking the clock to make sure she still had time between her classes. "She came to find you, Shelby. Rachel wanted a relationship with you, so getting in trouble was the best way to do it."

"She didn't seem that way when I talked to her at Carmel." Shelby interrupted. "There was only yelling and name-calling involved. I know I messed up, but from the way she acted, it looked like she didn't want anything to do with me."

Something else clicked in Quinn's mind, and she had to explain more. "This is the first time you've talked to her in a while. Now she's getting in more trouble, and you're becoming more interested." It sounded more harsh than she meant, but Shelby seemed to get the message from the silence Quinn received.

Then she had to think of herself. If she was honest, she could say that she and Shelby were pretty similar at the moment. They both cared about Rachel's well-being, but were both yelled at for trying to help.

_But why is Rachel pushing away people who are trying to help?_

It was just that. The more Quinn wanted to help, the more Rachel pulled away. And the blonde still tried. That was what Rachel wanted-the attention. When the brunette yelled at her, she knew that Quinn would try harder to help.

"Shelby, I'm afraid she's gonna hurt herself." The words were out of her mouth before she was aware of it.

"Hurt herself?"

"During lunch last week, Brittany told me that Rachel has been skipping lunch. I found her in the bathroom puking." She cringed. "I found out that she used to have bulimia."

"I didn't know that." The woman responded.

"Shelby, she's taking laxatives."

"What?" The response was loud and full of shock.

"It's true. I followed her into the bathroom today and found laxatives on top of her bag. I didn't know what to do, Shelby." The desperate tone now matched her mood.

"Hold on Quinn, I'm on my way to McKinley."

"I want to help as much as I can, Shelby." She told her.

"Thank you for calling me, Quinn. I'll be there as soon as I can." With that, the call ended.

Now was the decision on what she should do next. The obvious answer was go to class, but she needed to find Santana and Brittany. She weighed her options, and finally decided on the more pressing matter. She left to find her friends.

* * *

"Hey, Quinn." Santana pulled her eyes away from her locker when Brittany started to speak. When she looked, she saw that the blonde was making her way over. The only strange thing about it is that she looked really freaked out.

"What the hell, Q? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"It's Rachel." Santana looked down. She knew that people thought they were enemies, but the latina had at least mellowed out toward the brunette. Especially now, she became more concerned. Damn Quinn, dragging them into her problems.

"Laxatives." She said one word, and Santana understood. "I found them in the bathroom with Rachel's bag."

"Where is she now?"

"I don't know." The blonde confessed. "I called Shelby right after."

"Oh, God." Santana cursed. Even with the drama with Rachel, she didn't think that the coach of Vocal Adrenaline would go easy on her after what they did to their cars.

"Does Rachel know that her mom is coming?" Brittany tipped her head.

Quinn didn't respond, so Santana cut in. "I don't think so, Britt." She leaned back on the lockers and filed her nails as a distraction. Quinn and Brittany settled on either side of her.

When Quinn's phone went off, all three looked up, and after a few minutes, she flipped her phone shut. "Shelby should be here in a few minutes." She said. Now they had to decide what to do. It was somewhat rewarding that even though she hadn't said anything, Santana and Brittany had her back. And both were there to help Rachel, too.

* * *

People were smart enough to get out of the brunette's way when she slammed her locker shut. When people like the cheerios walked through the hall, people parted to let them through in both respect and to avoid being called out. As for Rachel, people probably moved out of fear.

Quinn saw her. Saw her with the stupid box that now sat in her bag, and was now onto her even more. Being worried about comforted her, though. It showed that people actually _did_ care. But that didn't get her off the hook.

She turned the corner to get a quick drink, but stopped when she felt eyes on her. She slowly turned around, and saw the last person she would have expected.

_Shelby._

Surprisingly, the woman hadn't seemed to notice her, even though Rachel could have sworn she was being watched. But she knew that this was off, and it was no coincidence. She knew the reason her mother was here and she knew exactly how she was informed of it.

Marching down the hall, flames of fury danced in her eyes, and a certain blonde was the focus of her anger.


	23. Chapter 23

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**********A/N: **Longest chapter so far! Whoo! :D This chapter was a little emotional for me, but I hope I put enough detail into it. Please review. c:

* * *

Getting to their next class was pointless; that was decided by all three cheerios by the time people started coming out of the classrooms and filling the halls. The most prominent thing on her mind was talking to Shelby, but it hadn't occurred to her what would happen after that. Santana bringing it up wasn't any better.

"What are you planning to do when she gets here?"

"I told her everything she needed to know on the phone." _Probably more than I should have_. "She just said she would be here. I don't know what she's planning to do."

"Seriously, Q? You really didn't think this through." Santana groaned.

"You would have done the same thing." Quinn growled forcefully. She wasn't even sure if that was true or not, but what was clear is that Santana cared enough to be helping her now. "If there was any other option, I would have done it."

"You really think it's all gonna work out? Hell, last time I checked, Rachel and Coach Corcoran weren't speaking. Actually, they were screaming."

"Rachel's mad at her mom." Brittany chimed in.

"I know, B." Quinn's reply came out sharper than she had intended, and the short conversation made her want to facepalm right there. She wanted to convince herself that Shelby could help, but how was she supposed to know what to do when Mr. Schue wasn't even aware of what was going on?

The vibrating phone in her pocket made her jump, and Santana looked ready to grab for it before the blonde pulled it out of her pocket. She flipped it open quickly and skimmed over the text.

_From: Shelby C._

_To: Quinn F._

_I'm here, Quinn. Mr. Schuester is with me, but I haven't told him anything yet. We're in the hallway heading toward his office._

Annoyingly nudging a certain latina away from looking at her phone, the blonde sent a quick reply.

_From: Quinn F._

_To: Shelby C._

_I'll meet you halfway. Heading there now._

Santana and Brittany were now leaning against the lockers, with a scowl and intense concentration written on the latina's face. Quinn didn't take the time to think about it, though, because her phone buzzed once more with a reply, and she was preparing herself for the situation she was about to throw herself into.

"I gotta go." She told the two girls.

Santana stopped her. "We'll catch up with you in a bit." She said, making Quinn turn around in confusion. "Look, Berry might not be my BFF but I'm sure as hell not gonna let her hurt herself. I'm a bitch but I'm not evil." Brittany smiled and hugged her from the back.

Quinn also gave a reassuring smile and nodded, leaving it at that and starting down the hall. The crowd of students grew, yet Santana and Brittany still leaned against the lockers. Brittany, of all people, was able to notice her friend's facial expression.

"What's wrong, San?" A nudge to her shoulder got the latina's attention.

"This isn't gonna go well, Britt." The tall blonde's head rested on her shoulder. "My psychic mexican third eye is never wrong. No way is Rachel just gonna go along with it."

When Brittany pulled her head away, Santana would have asked why, but she saw what the girl was watching. A very angry-looking Rachel was speeding down the hall-too fast to notice the two girls watching her. Not like it would have matter. _This bitch is on a mission._

It didn't settle well with Santana, and without thinking about it she grabbed Brittany and pushed through the groups of students to follow after the brunette.

* * *

The blonde found no need to text Shelby back, and made sure to read it right to make sure she met up at the right place. It was pretty easy, mostly because everyone still parted to let her through with ease, and she complimented herself on how they still respected her.

She was halfway down the hall when she began to get uncomfortable, and the funny thing was is that she didn't know why. Saying that someone was watching her would be an understatement because, well, she was surrounded by people.

Shrugging it off, she continued down the hall, never prepared for the force of a body forcefully pushing her into the locker-_hard_, if she might add.

"What-" The response was being slammed back into her original spot, and she opened her eyes quickly, shocked beyond comprehension at the way Rachel was looking at her, pure fury in her eyes.

Going only on her gut reaction, she pushed the girl off, and she couldn't help but remember the fight she and Santana had after she had been put back in the cheerios and had the latina demoted to the bottom of the period. She could probably understand the anger there. But purely going off of what she knew, she didn't know if Rachel would actually have the guts to fight her.

"What the hell, Berry?" She shot at her, using the now, rarely used, last name.

"You _know_ what you did." The malice in her voice made Quinn increasingly unsettled, though she wouldn't admit it. "You told Shelby, and now she's gonna think I'm crazy! I've been putting up with this crap for too long."

Quinn moved swiftly out of the shorter's girl's way when she dove for her and watched as she slammed into the locker. Rachel turned back and charged her, and the blonde took her, arms opened, and was able to get a firm hold on her hair.

It was a weak spot for all girls, and Rachel was no exception. She screamed to be let go, but not in the "begging for mercy" kind of way. It scared Quinn how furious she was, and almost lost focus when Rachel grabbed her shirt collar and tried to throw her into the locker. Thinking fast, she grabbed the shorter girl's arms and pinned her against the doors.

Most of the students were now standing around them, watching with interest but not saying anything. It was no surprise that they weren't breaking up the fight, and some even had their phones out recording the whole fight.

Hands were everywhere, and she could admit that their nails had left a few marks. She only felt a slight stinging above her eye and on her arm, but she didn't about it long before Rachel grabbed her hair and tried to use whatever strength she had to slam Quinn against the opposite wall.

The breath was only knocked out of her for a second and when she was approaching Rachel once more, the girl was already going for it. Her mind was blank when her own fist swung in front of her and caught the girl in the face, sending her crashing against the lockers and sliding down to crouch over.

_What the hell did I just do?_ Quinn couldn't even comprehend what had just happened. She felt a little blood trickle from the scratch above her eye, but nothing major. When she finally saw Rachel's lift her head she was appalled. Her eye was dark was an upcoming bruise and there were more noticeable scratch marks on her cheek. The product of her fist being thrown was the now bloody nose that Rachel had.

She wasn't anticipating the girl standing up so quickly, but she did. And if it wasn't for the arms wrapped around Rachel's waist keeping her from moving forward, Quinn could bet that she would have tried to attack her again. The blonde felt a tight grip around her own wrist, and was slightly relieved when she saw it was Mr. Schue.

It looked like Rachel hadn't noticed that she was currently being held back by Shelby, either that or she didn't care. Quinn focused on getting her breath back, and almost lost it again when she saw how pale Rachel looked. Her head was slumped forward and she looked similar to how they had come to school the day after the party.

"God, what was going on here?" Mr. Schue demanded, and Quinn hardly had an answer for him with Shelby less than three feet away.

"Nothing." Rachel's voice was once again monotone, and the blonde couldn't help but feel pity and guilt from the way the girl was going back and forth between holding her nose and feeling her eye.

Quinn caught Shelby's eye after the woman looked at Rachel and could tell she was horrified. She had to give the woman credit for taking the brunette's hand away from her own face and examining her, with the great chance that the girl could just lash out at her too.

Though Rachel didn't seem to be paying attention at all. She looked so broken, it made Quinn want to cry, and the tears that were forming in Rachel's eyes encouraged her to do just that. Only when Mr. Schue let go was Quinn brought back to the actual reason they were here.

"We need to talk. Come on." He motioned for the three, but Shelby held out her hand to him.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to take Rachel to the bathroom and get her fixed up." Rachel didn't give any response to her words.

"Of course, Shelby. We'll be waiting in my office." A glare to Quinn made her follow her teacher.

As much anger as she felt towards the girl, it made her want to break down right there. Rachel didn't even say anything. She simply walked alongside her mother-actually needing her help to walk-and Quinn followed Mr. Schue.


	24. Chapter 24

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**********A/N: **This chapter gives more of an insight to Rachel's _actual_ thoughts, so don't be surprised that her feelings don't match her actions.

* * *

_I am such an idiot._

The same words were being repeated over and over in Rachel's head as she walked next to Shelby, and she either didn't have the strength or willpower to deny them. She _was_ an idiot.

_Quinn probably thinks I'm crazy now too. I know Shelby already does._

She winced at the pain near her eye, taking her hand off her bloody nose to cover the other part that Quinn bruised. The guilt of what she had done was overwhelming, but it did make her feel a little better knowing that Quinn wasn't hurt that badly. She deserved this. She wasn't a fighter, and the fact that she felt guilt right now was proof of that.

Shelby was another matter that she had to deal with. Understanding why Quinn did was she did was pretty easy; she might have done the same thing if they were in a similar situation. But they weren't, and Rachel was pretty sure that Shelby wanted nothing to do with her.

"Rachel, come here." Those were the first words her mother said to her since finding her in the hallway. All the anger that she felt minutes before was now replaced with exhaustion, and she didn't feel like arguing.

Approaching the sink, she allowed Shelby to wet some paper towels and wipe her eye, and after being told to put pressure on her nose, she couldn't help but check to make sure it wasn't broken. Thankfully, it only felt sore. That didn't mean it didn't hurt, though.

Her hands were pulled away by Shelby, allowing her to thoroughly check her bruises without so much as a protest from Rachel.

"Why were you fighting with Quinn?" The brunette groaned inwardly. The guilt was already filling her mind and she didn't need to be reminded of it.

Her shrug wasn't convincing. "No reason."

"Apparently there _was_ a reason." Shelby insisted, taking her hands away and setting the bloody wipes on the counter to grab new ones. "I never expected you would turn to violence."

"I'm not into violence." Rachel told her. "That's Finn and Puck's thing. It's not like I enjoy it." She purposely avoided her mother's gaze.

"Then I'll ask again: why were you fighting with Quinn?" She put another cloth to her daughter's eye, making Rachel flinch at the cold feeling.

"Quinn can't stay out of my business." The bitter response didn't sound as negative as she had intended. "I have everything under control."

"Everything under control to where you're starving yourself and taking laxatives?" Rachel wondered if that was true concern in Shelby's eyes, or only curiosity.

"I can do what I want."

"Not all the time."

Rachel pushed Shelby's hand away and looked over herself in the mirror. God, she looked bad. The scratches on her cheek weren't that bad, but her nose and eye didn't look good.

"No one needed to know. No one's cared before. Why should they start now?"

Shelby stood behind her and held her daughter's shoulders reassuringly. "They do care about you, Rachel. If you spoke up about your problems, I'm sure they would help."

The woman received-literally-a cold shoulder. "They don't like me. No one does. The only way to get noticed is like _this._" She pointed to herself in the mirror, where part of her makeup was smeared.

"Rachel, honey..." _God, she's making me feel worse._ "I am here for you. You might not think so, and I take full responsibility for what I did. But if you explained what was wrong, I would have helped." She said. "You can't expect everyone to read minds. Sometimes it's okay to ask for help."

The brunette didn't even look up, because doing so would only confirm her words. But she was right, wasn't she? She didn't think Santana would have talked to her if she still wore her reindeer sweaters, or if Quinn would have been concerned if she hadn't changed her whole personality.

That's what people wanted, and it was slowly eating away at the old Rachel.

Both of them looked up at the door opening, and Rachel felt less anxious when she saw it was Santana and Brittany. She might have even smiled when she came in.

"Damn, Berry. Why'd you go all apeshit on Q?" The glare Shelby gave the latina for cursing had no effect. It comforted her to know they were trying to help her, even now. Santana moved to where Shelby was previously and took up the position in trying to help Rachel's eye. "I got it Coach Corcoran."

The woman might have replied if Rachel didn't wave her off. "I'll be in Mr. Schue's office in a bit." She muttered. Shelby looked to Brittany, who might have been the only honest person in the room at the time, and the blonde smiled.

Shelby relented and held onto Rachel for a few moments, and then left the bathroom.

There was no talking or interacting besides Santana and Brittany helping her out, and the feeling that they were helping her without interrogating her like her mother. "It was pretty crazy though, Rach." The use of her first name by Santana made it hurt a bit less. "I mean, I love a great fight, but that was crazy."

Rachel cracked a smile and Brittany had since joined in to help; she was currently brushing the brunette's hair, which was frizzy and disorderly from the fight. They were all content not to say anything, and it was a better feeling than being judged every which way. She knew she screwed up. Big time. But she was Rachel Berry, and she wasn't about to admit that.

She almost didn't see Brittany put down the brush but knew she was done when the tall blonde put her arms around her, enveloping her in a hug. The funny thing was, she returned the affection and fell into her embrace.

"Come on, San." Santana couldn't help but give into Brittany, especially with the large pout she had, and wrapped her arms around the two girls. "First time for everything, Rachel." Santana told her. After less than a minute they separated and the latina threw away all the wet cloths.

"Now what?" Brittany asked as they left the bathroom.

"I have to go to Mr. Schue's office." The sudden dread of seeing Quinn troubled her even more. Brittany seemed to pick up on Rachel's nerves, so she took her hand and gently squeezed it in an attempt to calm her. Though she was still nervous, it managed to make her a little less apprehensive.

She saw the look Brittany gave Santana, and heard the latina finally sigh and grasp Rachel's other hand with her own. "Everything will be okay, Rach." Brittany whispered. Rachel looked up at Santana to see her reaction, and the girl simply responded, "We're with you and Q. You're on our side, Berry."

* * *

Quinn was losing focus with how hard it was just to sit still and wait. She might be a patient person, but getting into a fist-fight only minutes before would make anyone on edge.

Shelby was silent on one side of the room, and Quinn sarcastically thanked her when the woman told her that she could explain, since Quinn knew more.

Mr. Schue was still clueless, and he would stay that way for as long as Quinn could keep it up. As much as Rachel might need help, she wasn't about to spill her secret to everyone. She told Shelby because she might be able to talk to the girl and possibly give her some guidance that Quinn wasn't able to.

"I don't know what was going on out there, Quinn. I don't expect you to spill everything, but I need to know what the fight was about."

This caught her by surprise, but she also had to reason with herself. Mr. Schue might never pay attention and only get interested when things go wrong, but he knew not to push them too hard. Maybe that was what Quinn was missing. She pushed Rachel too hard, and it resulted in a fight.

"Rachel got mad because I called Shelby. I don't think she wanted to talk to her." She said.

"Why did you call Shelby?"

_Crap._ She really didn't think that through. "I, uh... I just thought Rachel might be having some trouble. I was thinking that Shelby could help her." Her eyes begged Shelby not to say anything, and the woman seemed to understand by keeping her mouth.

The teacher simply pulled back, as if in thought, and tapped his pencil on his desk. "I won't get into your's or Rachel's business; I know that I'm not always helpful in these situations. But Quinn, if things are serious enough for fists to be thrown, it makes me concerned."

The problem now was coming up with a straight response that wouldn't be revealing too much. Thankfully, it was at that time that Rachel walked in, accompanied by Santana and Brittany.

"What are you two doing here?" Quinn hissed. "You weren't involved. You don't have to be here."

Santana smirked a little. "What? And miss the fun? Never." Quinn rolled her eyes and let Santana drag Rachel to a chair with Brittany following behind.

Mr. Schue was watching curiously, but Quinn wasn't about to try and explain. Leave it to Santana to come when she was needed. Or more, when she _wasn't_ needed.

No one said anything to the intruding teens, but it wasn't going to stay quiet. "Alright." Mr. Schue addressed them. "I need you to stay in here and explain. And this time, I want the truth."


	25. Chapter 25

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**A/N: **We have some of Quinn's thoughts in the beginning, and then the meeting continues. I think the story has a few more plot points before it finishes, so let me know if you guys have any ideas for future stories! I'm actually working out a Cheerio!Rachel story, with a possible teenage pregnancy to go along with it. Please review! c:

* * *

Quinn couldn't help but feel like crap. She knew this wasn't her doing. From the beginning, the simplest thing to do would have been to ignore Rachel and let her sort out her own problems. She could see Santana and herself shrugging at the change in the brunette, and blaming it on not getting a solo.

Except, now that she knew what was going on, she couldn't find it in herself to regret watching out for the girl when they went to Carmel, or questioning her in the bathroom that first day.

"I don't know what you're talking about." It was Rachel's classic excuse, used so much that people could tell something was wrong when it was used.

"Everyone in the glee club noticed." Yes, everyone, but only Quinn and Santana were willing to help. Even Brittany knew beforehand.

For all the good that she tried to do, how she responded that day was pretty accurate. "If you're going for attention, then you got it."

She cursed herself, even if it was for saying something she couldn't control. But remembering that conversation was what drove her forward, what made her want to help Rachel Berry. The last words of their short conversation was an echo of today's incident.

"This isn't you."

* * *

Mr. Schue was always the one to break up fights between the glee kids; it became normal, since most other teachers weren't around or weren't willing to jump in to separate things.

The downside was that now that things had escalated, Quinn knew that he wanted answers. Answers that she wasn't sure she could give. She glanced over at one of the girls in question-who wouldn't even look up-and it became clear that she had contacted Shelby hoping it would help, but instead, it only made things worse.

As expected, none of the people currently occupying the office thought to say anything. If anything, they were thinking of what not to say that could possibly get them in further trouble. Grateful that Mr. Schue, though a great teacher and glee coach, barely ever caught on to problems that his students were having.

Well, until Rachel made a scene in the middle of the hallway.

Now he was involved, clearly upset, and wanting an explanation that would fully describe what the hell they were doing. She could easily tell him what happened and hopefully get Rachel the help she needed, but she was met with resistance. This could very well push the girl away, and Quinn didn't know if she could handle that. Worrying about her every day was already enough, but being her friend was important to. Having the girl blatantly ignore her would be torture.

"It was my fault, Mr. Schue." Quinn's eyes darted upwards when someone started speaking, trying to hold back a response to Rachel taking responsibility for what happened. She was speechless, and she was frantically searching for something to say.

"How so, Rachel?" The man's eyes narrowed. Crap.

Don't do it, Rach. "I started the fight. I let anger get the better of me and caught Quinn off-guard in the hallway."

Her brain finally caught up with her mouth, and she felt anger herself, except for many different reasons.

"That's not true!" Even the questioning glare from Rachel and the curious glances from Santana and Brittany didn't detour her. "I fought back. I've been bugging Rachel all week-it's not her fault."

She noticed that Shelby stayed quiet through the whole charade, something that Quinn was thankful for. Things were messed up enough.

"I'm getting two different stories from two different people. I only want an explanation. Shelby?"

Quinn's eyes darted over to the woman, almost daring her to say something. She had no power over Shelby, but the desperation she showed might have persuaded her to avoid any more complications. "Sorry, Will, these girls know more than I do. I only came because Quinn called me."

Mr. Schue's tipped his head. "Why did she call you?"

For once, Shelby appeared to be taken back by what she said. The blonde decided that it was time she took matters into her own hands.

"I called Shelby because I thought Rachel might like to see her." She put in quickly. "Rachel wasn't really happy. The fight was just from all the crap that's happened this week. It was innocent."

"Innocent?" The teacher questioned, disbelieving. "Quinn, I just saw you and Rachel going at each other, which, might I add, has marks to prove it." He gestured to the brunette, who currently had her eyes focused on her hands on her lap. "I won't tolerate fighting. You both should know that by now."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Sure, like how you tolerated Finn and Puck fighting. Or me and Santana fighting last year." Santana acknowledged this statement with a nod to Brittany.

"I'm not condoning this. You don't have to remind me of previous fights. Since they were not punished thoroughly I have to be fair with you as well, but this is more serious." Quinn felt the stinging above her eye as a reminder. "I know very well that you aren't telling me the truth and you aren't leaving 'til I get some answers."

Everyone in the room jumped slightly when small hands banged on the desk. Rachel looked furious, and for probably the second time Quinn was glad she wasn't on the receiving end of them.

"I flipped out and tackled Quinn in the hallway." Quinn made a move to cut in but Rachel soon silenced her. "Shelby was the last person I wanted to talk to. I'm fucking done with all the crap that's being thrown at me." Both of the adults looked up at her raised voice. "I started the fight, maybe bruised Quinn, and I'm not gonna let anyone else get blamed for it."

Quinn watched her the whole time, expecting her to pass out with how pale she was from the screaming. It was hard to watch the girl break her silence and get her emotions out in the open, but she made the decision then to be the one to help her.

"I cannot punish you, Rachel. But I did expect better of you. It might be best if you and Quinn avoid each other for a couple days." The blonde's eyes widened. What?

"I'm going to do what I think is best for me." Even Mr. Schue couldn't argue, and Shelby avoided eye contact. "Can I go now?"

"Yes..." Mr. Schue sighed, and they all departed in a mix of confusion and apprehension.

"Rachel." Quinn caught up with the girl who had started to walk away. "I don't know why you did that."

The eyes that found her caught her by surprise, if only by how sad they looked. "Because it was my fault. I'm tired of arguing. I didn't mean to get you in trouble. I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay." She put a hand on the girl's shoulder to try and offer some comfort.

"I screwed up and I'm sorry. I'm stupid and selfish. You've been a good friend, Quinn."

The sudden apologies were having an effect on the blonde, and she wished that she could just hug the girl and make all her problems go away.

When the brunette started walking away once more, she tried to catch up. "Rach, it's not your fault."

"I know very well it is. You don't have to protect me, though I appreciate it. I'll talk to you later, Quinn." She had no choice but to watch Rachel run down the hall with her face buried in her books.

Quinn was nearing her breaking point too. One step forward, two steps back. Except now Rachel might be too far from her reach.


	26. Chapter 26

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**Summary:** The gang notices Rachel's change, but they might not find it to be as negative as they first thought. Only over time will they realize this is more than an act. She refuses to let them help. Now Quinn, Santana, and Brittany start taking matters into their own hands.

**A/N:** Thank you guys so much for being so patient with me while I was on vacation and trying to get my muse back. First, I'd like to go over a few things: 1. Shelby will probably be "kicked" out of the story. To me, it means that she will basically have a short ending and not show up again in this story. Why? Well, I don't really know how much to involve her, and this story doesn't really focus on her relationship with Rachel anyway. I'm going for more of the faberrittana friendship. 2. People are suggesting both for this story and the next one I write, that there should be an established faberrittana friendship. There are two problems with this. One of them being that this story is mostly angst, and it wouldn't sit well to have them doing random activities that every day friends do. And unless it was AU, they would have to develop a friendship anyway. And the other reason, probably the most important, is that this story is nearing its end. I will most likely cut the last plot point I had, because it doesn't really fit well with the story anymore. Now you are warned-probably the last few chapters ahead. :D

* * *

The day dragged on with little hope of it ever ending. Spanish was the worst, where Quinn sat in silence and doodled in her notebook, and Santana and Brittany barely paying attention in the back row. The teacher's back was turned a majority of the time, yet the two cheerios only sat quietly with Brittany's head on Santana's shoulder. So Quinn wasn't the only one worried.

Thoughts of Rachel were crowding her thoughts once more, and she didn't even try to push them away. Did the glee club know what was going on? Besides knowing about Rachel's change, she doubted that they knew the whole story.

Glancing back, she saw Brittany give her a sympathetic look, whereas Santana looked lost in her own twisted mind. You could even say it made her angry that her two best friends were reminding her of the whole position they were in.

The funny thing is that they brought it on themselves. Leaving Rachel alone was always an option, although that never seemed to register with them. Brittany would never leave a friend in need. Quinn, as far as she went, was a friend when she needed to be. And the blonde could bet that as much as Santana wanted to deny it, she cared for Rachel.

A buzzing in her pocket caught her attention, and she almost had a panic attacked when the teacher took a quick glance at her. She tried to nonchalantly shrug it off until the woman turned back to the lesson, and she quickly pulled her phone out to read the text.

From: Santana L.

To: Quinn F.

Your house today?

Following routine and checking to make sure she was still in the clear, she sent a straight reply.

From: Quinn F.

To: Santana L.

Sure. Mom's not home so we can hang out.

Maybe this would be a good thing. Helping Rachel was one of her top priorities, but it also came to reason that she had to give the girl a little bit of space and also time to figure some things out on her own.

The bell ending class almost made her jump like her phone. This was seriously getting annoying. The day was taking forever, yet she wasn't aware of anything that was going on, so time seemed to pass a little quicker. Explain it to Brittany, and she would stare back at you. Even Quinn couldn't comprehend why something at the back of her mind kept screaming at her. She was worried about Rachel-that had already been established-but she might be considered a crazy person from her urge to tell her brain to stop coming up with ideas and shut up.

"Hey, Q." Santana, linked by her pinkie with Brittany, came to catch up with her after exiting the room. Usually the greeting was followed by an insult, so it was unsettling for things to seem so... off.

"Hey." She walked beside them.

They were all pretty content to walk to glee in silence and just focus on breathing, but normality was not on Quinn's side today, and her last shred of comfort was swiped away when she bumped into Tina going the other way.

"Sorry, Quinn." The girl's words were rushed and she was more interested in looking at her phone then try a real apology.

"What's wrong, Tina?" Quinn looked over at Brittany, who stayed quiet so far.

"I've been texting Rachel, but she's not answering." Tina looked even more frustrated after sending another text.

"You'll talk to her soon." Santana shrugged and they went on their way without her, though Quinn wished she could have elaborated. Why couldn't Tina just have walked into the choir room and talked to Rachel there?

Her question was answered just moments later when she walked into the choir room and found it filled with the members of New Directions, and none of them looked happy. Even Mr. Schue looked put off. Another quick sweep of the chairs told her that Rachel was not here.

"Where's Rachel?" Finn demanded, stalking up to them right after they walked in.

"I don't know."

"Like hell you don't." The tall teen snarled, resulting in Mr. Schue coming to stand in front of him.

"Hey, calm down." Finn still looked livid. "I doubt that Quinn, Santana, or Brittany know where Rachel is. None of us do."

Santana's eyes widened. "What?"

Puck took this chance to offer his explanation. "Some of us saw Berry in the hallway before glee and she didn't look good. Like, black eye, busted nose, insane."

"No shit, Sherlock." Santana cussed, earning a glare from Quinn.

"Anyway. Me and Finn went to talk to her and she like, totally freaked out." What? "She started yelling and crying and then she ran out the doors."

"She just ditched?" Santana shook her head.

"Pretty sure that's what happened." Puck shot back.

"And I'm pretty sure that you had something to do with it." Quinn caught the glare that Finn was giving her and the two other cheerios. What bothered her most is that she wasn't around when this was going on, and she cursed herself more when she she had the chance to follow Rachel and she didn't. She was grateful for Santana, who started talking, because she had no response at the moment.

"Back off, Finnocence. We didn't do anything to the Midget." At least half of that's true. "She's been dealing with shit and had a crappy day. You probably chased her off yourself." If Quinn hadn't intervened, she'd have bet that Finn would have flipped out.

"We don't know anything, Finn." The lack of response from Mr. Schue confirmed that he did not say anything to the other glee kids about the incident.

"Then how do you explain why you're pretty busted up too?" Quinn remembered the scratch above her eye and wondered what kind of explanation she could give.

"Oh, just leave it Finn. Yeah, punches were thrown, but none of us know where she is now." Some of the others looked shocked at what Santana revealed, and it came to mind whether it did more bad than good. "We don't know."

"There's nothing we can do right now." Mr. Schue finally stepped in. "After glee you guys can try to get a hold of her again, but until then, we need to give her space."

"That's a total lie!" Everyone's eyes went to Mercedes at her sudden outburst. "I dunno about you guys, but I'm tired of this game of charade." Everyone looked at each other in possible agreement, and Quinn had to wonder how much they knew.

"I've seen how Rachel's been acting, and I know it's not an act. I'm one of the divas in the club. I know these things. Something's wrong."

Kurt joined in. "I'm friends with Rachel and she's barely called me the past couple weeks. Only to say hi and nothing else."

"We only hung out once in that time." Tina had since entered the choir room after being unsuccessful with contacting Rachel. "After that, she stopped talking..."

"...To everyone." Sam finished sadly.

"Guys, I know we have to deal with these personal issues, but the best thing we can do now is give her some space."

"Bullshit!" Puck burst out, making Mr. Schue's face contort in some sort of anger or surprise.

"What Puckerman is trying to say-" The fiery latina glared at him. "-is that we're done playing it safe. And I think I everyone in this room knows that something's up. Berry's been popping laxatives and starving herself all week. The bad girl is just an act." She growled.

Most of their eyes turned to worry, and then lit up in determination.

"This crap has gone far enough." Mercedes declared, and most of the kids followed as she led them toward the door.

"Where are you guys going? Glee's not over yet!"

"I don't care what Rachel pulled in the past. We care about her, and we're going to help her." Kurt's response was short and to the point, and enough to allow them to escape into the hallway.

"We need to call her. Text her. Something." Tina said frantically; she was already on her phone.

"Come on, we'll go see if we can find her at Breadstix." Kurt said. Blaine nodded to him and Mercedes and Tina joined them in leaving out the doors and pulling their jackets up to shield from the lightly falling rain.

"Berry, you're gonna get a full Puckasaurus smack-down when we find you." Finn stared at Quinn for a few more seconds and then went with Puck, shortly followed by Sam.

It didn't feel right. Something was off. And not just from Rachel acting differently. This feeling was unsettling in her stomach, and Santana had to leave a comforting hand on her shoulder to give her some support.

"We'll check the house." Santana decided, and Quinn only nodded quickly, still in a strange sense of shock.

"What if she's not there, San?" The sound of Brittany's sad voice got to her.

The only response was being tugged by the arms by the latina, and right now it hurt Quinn to think Santana didn't even have an answer.


	27. Chapter 27

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**Summary:** The gang notices Rachel's change, but they might not find it to be as negative as they first thought. Only over time will they realize this is more than an act. She refuses to let them help. Now Quinn, Santana, and Brittany start taking matters into their own hands.

**A/N:** I really don't have any words for this chapter, except at the end. c:

* * *

After leaving the school-hey, it wasn't ditching-they barely heard any word back from any of the other glee kids. Brittany was in the back playing with her hands to calm her nerves, and Santana was in the passenger's seat, holding her phone in her hands. The only updates they received were from Finn and Mercedes, confirming that she was neither near the school nor Breadstix.

"Let them know we're at her house." The blonde's eyes were hard and focused, totally opposite to the emotional girl in the backseat. Santana nodded her head and quickly sent the text before they pulled into the driveway, noting the mailbox that said "Berry."

Quinn watched the latina open the car door and help Brittany out, leading to them walking together toward the front door of Rachel's house. There weren't many excuses to come to Rachel Berry's house, so the blonde was grateful that she was able to remember. Now was the time that all of the doubts came to her mind. What if she wasn't even here? Did she run away? Was she just not feeling well and decided to go home? She was hopeful for the last option, but it wasn't right to get her hopes up.

Santana had since approached the door and knocked tentatively on it, something Quinn rarely saw. Not getting any response was what brought the latina back and in turn, her fist. She banged harder on the door, yelling pretty loudly. "Berry, it's Santana. Open the door!" Quinn pulled back and when the noise stopped, she could have sworn she heard small shuffling coming from inside. Nudging the protesting latina away, she knocked herself.

"Rachel, please open the door." The shuffling got louder, though none closer to where they actually needed her to grant them access. "Rachel, come on!" She grew frantic when she heard nothing else, and ultimately stopped trying to assault the door with her fist. Grunting, she turned around and stomped to the car.

She was aware of the two other girls' gazes on her, probably thinking she was giving up. It was the other way around, actually. Reaching through the window of the vehicle, she grabbed her small handbag and dug through it until she pulled out a small, thin piece of metal. Anyone would think she was crazy, but she knew carrying it around everywhere had its benefits.

Santana and Brittany automatically moved out of the way when Quinn took her place again. This time her hands were fiddling with the lock as she jammed the small lockpick into the keyhole. Years of Coach Sylvester's training really payed off, but when the door slowly opened her hesitance returned. The house was deadly silent, but the shattered glass next to the wall proved that it was anything but empty.

"Berry?" The latina barged in next to her, still keeping a tight grip on Brittany's hand. "Damnit, Rachel, where are you?" It felt a little weird, walking through the girl's house. In some ways, it felt like a horror film.

She caught Santana's head turning to calm down Brittany who was insistantly tugging at her arm. This was what set off her alarms and she wondered if perhaps she wasn't so alert, she might have missed the small movement from behind the counter in the kitchen.

Brittany broke away from the hand holding onto her's and came to walk beside Quinn. The taller blonde was pointing to the same place that had caught her attention just moments before. Santana obviously caught on and without any warning, walked between them with some sort of urgency in her steps. When the latina finally turned the corner, Quinn's anxiety spiked when she heard Santana curse. "Rachel, what the hell!"

She found her. Of course she found her. She wouldn't be saying that if she hadn't found her.

_Get it together, Quinn._

Even encouraging words didn't prepare her for what she saw. Rachel leaning against the cabinets, her hand pulled close to her, with blood peaking from her sleeve. She noticed the knife not far from her and when she finally made eye contact with the brunette she could see more fear and pain then she had ever noticed.

Out of sheer instinct, Quinn kicked the sharp object away from arm's reach and took Santana's place next to the girl. "Rachel, what did you do?" She sure hoped she didn't sound as horrified as she looked. But even the matching expression Rachel gave her couldn't convince her that she didn't do this to herself.

"I-I didn't... It was an accident... I-I didn't mean to..." It was finally out in the open. Not all the confessions; but when Rachel burst into tears and Quinn caught her in her arms, she knew the act was done. The brunette was as vulnerable as she was ever going to get. She wanted to help her, but she needed to know first.

"Rachel, what happened?" She tightened her grip on the sobbing girl while Brittany embraced her from the other side, Santana sitting next to her.

"I-I came home today... I needed to be alone. I cried a little. I was making dinner." She choked back more tears, causing Quinn to pull her closer. "I-I didn't do it on purpose... I would never-"

"Shh, Rachel. It's okay." The blonde pulled Rachel's head to her chest and held her. "It's okay. We're here now. We're not going anywhere." The looks on Santana and Brittany's faces told her she agreed with her. "I just need to see." Rachel looked up, and Quinn had to hold back from shedding her own tears at the sadness reflecting in her eyes. The brunette hesitantly pulled out her hand, and Santana took it instead.

It didn't look bad, but enough to scare the crap out of you. The only concern was that it was still bleeding. "Britt, can you go get some wrap from the bathroom?" Brittany nodded to her girlfriend and left the room in a hurry.

"Does she even know where the bathroom is?" Relief spread through her at the amusement in Rachel's voice; something she hadn't heard in what seemed like a long time.

"I think so." She didn't even have to say anything to the girl when she stood them up, Quinn holding onto Rachel's good hand with no intention of letting go. She also had to admire Santana for carefully taking the other one.

They all sat down on the couch together, with Rachel's head leaning on the blonde's shoulder. The warm tears were still fresh and she could feel them muliplying. Thankfully, Brittany arrived in time with the first aid and she helped with applying the gauze to the wound and then wrapping it up.

The brunette didn't say a word through this process, and she wasn't able to get a single syllable out of her mouth before she broke down again. Quinn gladly took the position as comforter, grateful that Santana and Brittany were being supportive as well.

"Rachel, everything's okay now." Quinn soothed her, and she heard an uncomprehendaple reply. "What?"

"I said..." Rachel wiped some of the many tears that were falling. "I'm done."

"What are you talking about?" Questioned Santana. It then hit Quinn that she was the only one aware of what was really going on.

"This... this isn't me." Rachel said sadly, pulling her small black skirt. "The only time you took notice of me is after I became... this." Quinn used her sleave to clean the brunette's face of the tears. "I wanted a friend... someone who would look out for me like you guys did these past two weeks."

Santana's looked like she was trying to comprehend what was going on.

"I thought that maybe if I changed you... you would like me more. But things changed then..." Quinn looked at her sympathetically. "I wanted to change more of myself. Be thinner, be... prettier. I started doubting myself, but in the back of my mind I knew... you guys did care. And I was pushing you away because of my selfish reasons." She crashed into Quinn's embrace once more and this time, both Santana and Brittany joined them.

"Rachel, you could have talked to us." Santana's voice was unusually soft. "Sure, you're usually really annoying in glee but we could have worked something out."

"Really?" Rachel lifted her head, her face as innocent as a child's. "We could have been friends before? But you never liked me..."

"Let me explain this to you, then." Santana said. "You went through this whole stunt to try and get us to like you. I say that's devotion-even I wouldn't be that determined. But what happened as a result wasn't something I would wish on my worst enemy." The latina winked and wrapped her arms around the girl, making Quinn even prouder.

"I always wanted to hang out with you, Rachel." Brittany gave the girl a quick peck on the lips; something probably only Brittany could get away with doing.

It was then that Quinn realized that she was the only one that hadn't spoken. "Rachel, I..." The girl turned to her, and she almost burst into tears at the girl. The old Rachel Berry. "I'm sorry." She cried. "I'm sorry that you had to go through it alone, and just for something as simple as being our friend." Santana had the decency to look regretful. "But I want you to know that even if people don't like you, you don't have to change to please them. I think the whole glee club has realized how much you actually mean to them this week. And so have we."

Rachel's eyes filled with tears, and Quinn knew her well enough to know that these were tears of joy and relief. As if by command, all four girls embraced each other, glad that they were able to help in all the right ways.

"You don't have to pretend anymore." Quinn's words were quiet, but were certainly heard. "It's back to the way it should be."

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**A/N:** It's been a lot of work, but I finally finished my first fanfiction. And if you aren't tired of reading, don't worry! I'm hopefully going to have a sort of epilogue after this. But other then that, we're pretty much done. Thank you guys for reading and following me through this little journey. I appreciate all the kind words and I hope you'll stick around for any other fanfictions I have planned in the future. Thanks a bunch! c:


	28. Chapter 28

**Pity and Promise**

**Rated: **T (for language)

**Pairing(s):** Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.

**Summary:** The gang notices Rachel's change, but they might not find it to be as negative as they first thought. Only over time will they realize this is more than an act. She refuses to let them help. Now Quinn, Santana, and Brittany start taking matters into their own hands.

**A/N:** The epilogue, which I hope ties up any loose ends. c:

* * *

It had been less than a week and things were relatively back to normal. Normal as in Mr. Schue waiting until the last minute to get a setlist for sectionals, and Kurt and Mercedes craving for the spotlight in glee.

This was some comfort to Rachel. For things to be how they were before, but somehow different. _Better_. After the day that Quinn, Santana and Brittany found her, it was a surprise when the rest of the glee kids arrived at her doorstep and let themselves in, all sitting down to watch movies together. It was nice.

Now the only emotion to go through was her own guilt, which was brought to the front of her mind the day after.

"Hello?"

Rachel froze, feeling unprepared and basically forgetting everything she wanted to say. "Shelby?" She swallowed. "Um... it's Rachel." She held the phone tightly.

There was a pause on the other line, and for a second she thought of hanging up and forgetting this ever happened.

"Hi, Rachel." She was starting to regret it, but she knew very well she wouldn't be able to think straight until this was out of the way.

"I'm sorry." She started. "I'm sorry for all the crap I've put you and numerous people through. I thought if I changed perhaps people would like me better. That didn't give me any an excuse to behave the way that I did. I-"

"I forgive you, Rachel." _Wait, what?_ "I haven't been around you long enough to know your reasons, but I know well enough that no one would have acted that way out of impulse. And what I _do_ know about you is that you always have a reason. No matter how ridiculous."

"It wasn't ridiculous..." Being defensive was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Yes it was. Rachel, you are a beautiful and amazing girl who is gonna go on to do amazing things. You don't need to change to please people. The only person you need to please is yourself."

The words stuck with the brunette, and she tried to remember the last time she felt good about herself. It was the week before this whole thing started. That was the time where she truly felt like herself.

"I'm glad I have friends to watch out for me." She said quietly. She would have never expected that the ones to help her were the exact people who pushed her away before.

"I'm happy for you, Rachel. You need to be strong to be able to get over things like this."

"Thank you for caring, Shelby." The words came out as a sigh. "I... I'm sorry about what I said before."

"Don't be." Shelby said. "It made me think about my past actions too. I want to help you whenever I can, Rach. Don't hesitate to call me."

"Thank you." She was sure saying that a lot lately, and it actually felt good. "And... can you also apologize to Jesse for me?"

The confusion layered her voice. "What for?"

"Um... I don't know." They both shared a laugh, finding it nice to be able to talk together without any restraints. Soon, Shelby heaved a deep sigh.

"Well, I have to get going. You promise you'll call me?"

"Yes, Shelby, I'll call you."

"All right. I look forward to it." The line went dead and Rachel flipped the phone shut with smile on her face.

She didn't hold the expression long, though, because Brittany soon tried to strangle her with a bone-crushing hug. Of course Santana was laughing at the smaller girl's plight, and Quinn couldn't hide her amusement either.

"Come on, Rach. Everyone's waiting in the auditorium." The shorter blonde took her good hand and led her down the hall after successfully prying her from Brittany's grasp.

They walked through the doors with bright attitudes and went to join the other kids on the stage. Puck was already prepared with his guitar in hand, strumming away.

_I remember when_

_We used to laugh_

_About nothing at all_

_It was better than going mad_

Finn and Artie joined in.

_From trying to solve all the problems we're going through_

_Forget 'em all_

_Cause on those nights we would stand and never fall_

_Together we faced it all_

_Remember when we'd_

All the glee kids joined in.

_Stay up late and we'd talk all night_

_In a dark room lit by the TV light_

_Through all the hard times in my life_

_Those nights kept me alive_

_We'd listen to the radio play all night_

_Didn't want to go home to another fight_

_Through all the hard times in my life_

_Those nights kept me alive_

Puck took stage once more.

_I remember when_

_We used to drive_

_Anywhere but here_

_As long as we'd forget our lives_

_We were so young and confused that we didn't know_

_To laugh or cry_

_Those nights were ours_

_They will live and never die_

_Together we'd stand forever_

_Remember when we'd_

_Stay up late and we'd talk all night_

_In a dark room lit by the TV light_

_Through all the hard times in my life_

_Those nights kept me alive _

_We'd listen to the radio play all night_

_Didn't want to go home to another fight_

_Through all the hard times in my life_

_Those nights kept me alive_

Everyone started harmonizing together.

_Those nights belong to us_

_There's nothing wrong with us_

_Those nights belong to us_

The song slowed, and Puck motioned for Rachel to take the last verse.

_I remember when_

_We used to laugh_

_And now I wish those nights would last_

A group hug was shared between them, bringing them closer not only as team-mates, but as friends. The feeling of acceptance was stronger than she had ever felt it and for a minute, she thought it might go away. But with her newfound friends and Finn, Rachel whole-heartedly accepted Quinn's words, and planned to live by them.

_"You don't have to pretend anymore."_

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**A/N:** _Now_ we've reached the end. Thank you all for reading and for the support you guys gave me. I hope to write more fanfictions, so be on the lookout! Love you guys!


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